


Seraphim Singing at the End of the World

by MegumitheGreat



Category: Ar tonelico, Tales of Zestiria
Genre: Crossovers & Fandom Fusions, Hymmnos, Multi, Seraphic Artes, Shepherds - Freeform, Slavery, Torture, song magic, squires, towers
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-09-10
Updated: 2018-08-12
Packaged: 2018-08-14 07:10:09
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 52
Words: 161,728
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8003188
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MegumitheGreat/pseuds/MegumitheGreat
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Long ago, humans were able to use Song Magic.  When they lost themselves to corruption, they lost that ability.  Now only seraphim can use Song Magic and Seraphic Artes, and harnessing their power was the ultimate human goal.  Slavery, however, of the continent's caretakers would lead to widespread devastation.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Phase 1:  The Glenwood Towers

**Author's Note:**

> **[EDIT: I have been writing in the incorrect Cosmosphere entrance messages. They have been corrected now. And because I don't think I have properly credited them, the transliterations are also done by aquadragon over on ZetaBoards: Hymmnos Dialogues.]**
> 
> Finishing this chapter at 3AM, this idea has been floating around in my head since I started my Heart Fusion series. It's more serious, and I've placed a higher rating than maybe what it should be depending on how it goes (if it goes). I also got the Hymmnos font, and I REALLY want to use it in this one. (It doesn't appear on anything except for Word Docs.)

Long ago, humans lived in relative peace by the power of Songs. They flourished, their knowledge breaking boundaries as they learned to create new machines and ways to increase their standard of living while keeping their Song Magic intertwined in their progress. Humans worked together so that they could all live without hardship and disease. The times for peace, however, came to an end as greed and vanity, lust and pride, and the struggle for omnipotent power began to cloud their hearts. Money became an object that everyone wished to own no matter what, and they would do anything to have it. Some humans poisoned each other while others sold whatever property and necessities they had just to own the few gold coins that they would receive. A small population of them had concentrated their wealth into ruins and dungeons far away from the hungry eyes and the thieving hands that threatened to steal them. In time, their sinful ways eroded their ability to sing, reducing them to something analogous to babies in the world they once cared for and used as their home.

Then humans then learned of a special type of their species that were invisible to them unless they had sacrificed their desires for earthly possessions. This species had even further developed Song Magic.

These unique humans were called the seraphim. Seraphim had the ability to govern specific elements with the use of their Song Magic, and their Song Magic could only be used in the ancient language of Hymmnos. With Hymmnos, the seraphim could communicate with the three Great Towers of the Glenwood Continent; Eolia, Frelia, and Tilia. These Towers were supposedly in a legendary location outside of the realm of humans.

Their type of Song Magic had other uses such as answering their prayers and giving them the power to repel their enemies. Humans heard of this power, and naturally, they yearned to harness it. By using the power of Song Magic, they would be able to have everything they wanted.

Humans invaded the villages where seraphim were said to live by imprisoning devout believers. They were their bloodhounds that would be tortured if they didn’t detect the existence of the divine beings in these areas. If they were caught hiding information about the seraphim, they were executed.

Before long, as humans continued to invent more and more ways to seize the seraphim, they happened on technology that made their existence known to even the most contaminated of people. This technology, called Seraphic Artes, was actually the same technology that the seraphim themselves utilized in the building of their homes and monuments. Seraphic Artes were special abilities used to establish emergency connections with the Towers for an abundance of power.

In turn, the implementation of the Seraphic Artes, Song Magic, and the connections to the Towers gave rise to the need of proxies and a Mass Tower—the Five Great Lords. These Towers were dedicated one each to a Great Lord, with the Mass Tower being connected to the Great Towers of the Glenwood Continent, and the only way to access them was to have a seraph of that particular element guide the way. There was a risk involved, though. The seraph, who became the guide, would be in danger of losing their mind if they were left unprotected. This was to prevent humans from trying to take over the Towers for their own gain. If any of the Towers were breached by the malevolence of humans, the Mass Tower would become infected and poison the entire world to kill all organisms. That was the fail-safe to save the planet.

Because reaching any of the Towers was far too difficult for humans, they again turned to the seraphim. They forced them to work long hours for them in addition to using Song Magic at every whim. The malevolence in them grew and grew until they culminated into hellions as the malevolence gave birth to viruses in them. The viruses ate them from the inside until only their bodies were left that could be filled with sin and essentially be reanimated husks of their former selves.

To combat the rise of hellions within their towns and cities, humans began to expel the seraphim that were too sick to work out into the wilderness. They had figured that if they could starve them, their problems would go away. Unfortunately the despair that the seraph fell into was what killed them. Incredibly strong seraphim turned into dragons, becoming capable of basic thinking processes that were focused on the eradication of humans and seraphim alike. Just as humans cast them away, draconic seraphim were disowned by the proxy Towers to prevent infection, but because of the nature of the Mass Tower, they still had a connection to the land. This connection relayed information of the land’s longevity. If too many dragons were born, the planet would deteriorate.

Millions of hellions too weak to cause damage immediately to the planet but too strong to fight back with military strength began to run amok. They killed the unlucky humans that were traveling between cities and towns and ate their corpses despite not needing to feed. It was hypothesized that by eating the flesh, they could accumulate more malevolence. They would become stronger until they could invade cities.

Even though the future was bleak for humans, souls that were pure still existed. These souls, chosen by seraphim before they’re born and subsequently devoid of sin, would usher in an age of hope. These souls would become Shepherds and Squires, and they were the Glenwood Continent’s last effort in preserving the world.

Those who were fated to become Shepherds and Squires first had to establish an emotional link with the chosen seraph, but there were as many different ways to do that as there were seraphim. It was up to the Shepherds and the Squires to understand how to connect and deepen their links, and it was possible for Shepherds to connect with more than one seraph, but it made the burden greater to carry. This burden had the potential to turn the Shepherd into a hellion; Squires faced a similar risk.

During this time that was the Age of Chaos, three known humans existed to have an exceptionally resonance with the seraphim. Their partnerships would be tested by humans, seraphim, and the continent itself; but as long as they remained firm in their resolve to end the suffering of everything in the world.

\--------------------------------------

Sorey and Mikleo reached for the jar of cookies that Zenrus had placed on the top shelf of his bookcase. Mikleo sat on Sorey’s shoulders but still couldn’t reach the sweet biscuits. His tiny hands couldn’t even touch the shelf.

“Sorey, step on your tippy-toes! I’ve almost got them!” Mikleo strained.

“But you’re heavy, Mikleo!” Sorey struggled.

Zenrus burst into the room with his pipe in his mouth and his fists on his waist. He was only slightly taller than his five-year-old kids. He grumbled, “What have I told you rascals about eating sweets before dinner?!”

“Uh-oh!” Mikleo stuttered.

“Busted!” Sorey panicked.

The two of them scurried out of his house out into the open field that was the center of the Seraphic Village Elysia. They taunted Zenrus to chase after them knowing that he couldn’t run very well due to his height and age.

“If I catch you two trying to sneak sweets again, I’ll shock you with my lightning bolt!” the old seraph called out to them.

The two children took that as a serious threat, running out of the village and to the entrance of their forbidden playground the Mabinogio Ruins. They knew better than to go in today since dinner was right around the corner, so they found a spot under one of the trees and far away from the prickleboars in the area.

“Do you have the Celestial Record?” Mikleo asked.

Sorey pulled out from his knapsack a large book that had seen better days. Its pages were worn and dog-eared, and the covers had deep scratches. They had marked several pages in it detailing about the Great Towers. They fantasized about visiting the Towers one day.

“Hey, Mikleo, since you’re a seraph, can’t you use Song Magic, too?” Sorey inquired.

“Sorey, you know I can’t sing.”

“Have you tried?”

“Gramps has been trying to teach me, but…I just can’t.”

Mikleo was saddened that of all the seraphim in Elysia, he was the only one who couldn’t sing. He turned the question on Sorey, who was devoid of sin and therefore was connected to the Great Towers. Sorey admitted that he had tried to sing, but it never worked even when he got the words right.

“Didn’t Hymmnos stop working for humans?” he thoughtfully questioned.

“But you’re not a bad human.”

“Maybe one day we can go to the Towers and ask whoever runs them why I can’t sing!”

“You know Gramps won’t let us go.”

“You’re right…”

Mikleo stood up from their cozy spot under the tree, opening his mouth and glowing with light:

“ _Was yea ra..._ ” he began. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t think of the next part. “See? I can’t sing. Who’s ever heard of a seraph that can’t sing?”

\--------------------------------------

In a different city, a princess child learned the royal etiquette as she watched the priests partake in a ceremony to awaken the seraph that was captured many centuries ago. They could barely see her flaming red dress with their hazy eyes, but the child gazed at everything from her dress to her golden tiara to her jade eyes.

“Fire seraph Lailah,” the head priest greeted. Lailah didn’t say anything to them. “Insolent brat!” He smacked her across the face. “How dare you ignore me, your master! I’ll work you so hard that you’ll turn into a dragon in no time!”

The princess child ran up to her side and placed herself between them. “Don’t hit her! She just woke up from her nap!” she chastised. The priests were taken aback, and the princess child turned around to see how bad the handprint was. “Does it hurt? Mama gave me some ointment to put on boo-boos. Let’s go play in my room!”

Lailah didn’t know what to say, yet she accepted her invitation. “My child, may I have your name?”

“My name is Alisha Diphda!”

“Then, Princess Alisha, I would be honored to play with you.”

Alisha stuck her tongue out at the priests while escorting Lailah to her manor. The citizens of her city Ladylake were appalled that she was holding her hand. Some even threatened to kill the seraph, but Alisha promised she would scream if they came near her. The guards would come and see that they were trying to hurt her by killing her only form of protection.

In her bedroom, Alisha tended to the bruise that stained Lailah’s porcelain-white skin. Lailah flinched at first, but the ointment began to cool on her face. The tingling sensation that had remained even so long after being hit disappeared in seconds.

“Princess Alisha, how can I ever repay you?” she tearfully asked.

“Do you have any sweets?”

“I can make you some cakes if you would like!”

Lailah went to the center of the room and sang a very short spell. Out of thin air, five small cakes appeared complete with forks and plates and cute decorations that tickled Alisha’s childish fancy.

“You can have all the cakes you would like! This is my thank-you for helping me.”

“That’s so cool! Lailah, can I make cakes appear like that, too?”

It seemed that Alisha was still unaware of the tragic history of seraphim. She told her that maybe one day she would learn to use Hymmnos. Alisha held up two of the plates to her, almost demanding that they have a tea party. Soon enough, Alisha was wearing a feathered boa and a plastic crown while Alisha was wearing a pair of heart-shaped sunglasses and a cat costume. They happily drank their imaginary tea and ate the cakes.

By the end of the day, the priests had come to her bedroom to take Lailah back to the sanctuary where she had been awakened. They falsely promised that she was merely going to use her Seraphic Artes to fix the sanctuary. In reality, they took her back to the sanctuary to use her Song Magic to heal sick citizens, beating her when she didn’t want to comply. During the night, Lailah was chained down, wishing to go back to Alisha’s bedroom and safety.

\--------------------------------------

“Rose, do you have the knives again?” an old man wearing a light blue parka yelled from his tent.

“Maybe!” the little red-haired girl giggled. She swiped at the air, spinning as expertly like a ninja. “If you want them back, you have to catch me!”

“Dammit, girl, I told you that you can’t play with our knives!”

“Sorry, Mayvin, but I wanna get better so I can help Eguille and you and the others out!”

Rose ran deeper into the forest as Mayvin chased after her. She jumped over bulging tree roots and danced around tree trunks until she finally thought to use the knives to climb a tree and stay well out of his reach. She laughed at him until she heard what sounded like singing. The voice was faint and gruff, as if the singer had been fighting off some adversary. Even with Mayvin yelling at her to return the knives, she had to disobey. She had to find the source of the desperate song.

The voice sang, “ _hYImOmOrO/._ ” 

“Hymmnos?” Rose mumbled to herself as she leapt through the trees

“He’s trying to sing!” a man called out.

“He’s blind; just attack!” another ordered.

Rose found the source of the commotion, and she hid among the branches to observe the subsequent events. The guards, apparently from the Rolance Kingdom, were closing in on what looked like to be a wind seraph. Rose had never seen a seraph wear all black, so she couldn’t be sure, but she did hear Hymmnos. At least, it was some sort of dialect.

The wind seraph kept swiveling his head side to side trying to pinpoint where the Rolance knights were positioned. “ _zz lYAlYAnN/._ ” he sang. He watched as the knights wavered, but his Song Magic was too weak.

“They’re really going to kill him!” Rose whispered. Gripping her knives tightly, she decided she had to do something. One of the knights staggered backwards toward the tree she was perched, and once he was close enough, she fell from the tree so that she landed on his shoulders. She held her knives at his throat and made her demands. “Let the seraph go, or I’ll kill your friend!”

The knights at first laughed. Then they looked closely at the bloodlust in her young eyes. She was serious, but they still didn’t think she was capable of killing a knight. After all, how would she slice his neck through all that armor? She flipped off the knight before stabbing his inner thigh right where his aorta traced down his leg. He began to bleed out, the crimson liquid spraying on her face.

“I said, leave the seraph alone,” she said, as if she were possessed by a demon. The knights retreated, leaving their comrade to die in the forest. When she could no longer see them through the shadows of the forest, Rose approached the wind seraph. “Are you okay?”

The wind seraph reached up to her, touching her face and imaging how tall she was compared to him. “Why did you save me? Humans are supposed to be hell-bent in using us and then throwing us away.

“Not this one. Come with me. Mayvin can make you something to eat.” Rose took his hand and led him to the camp site. “What’s your name?”

“Dezel.”

“Okay, Dezel! Mayvin’s really nice; he’ll take good care of you just like he took care of me!”

Dezel had no choice but to follow the little girl that had saved him even though he would have rather been slaughtered. It would have been a better fate than hiding from humans.


	2. Phase 1:  Elysia, the Village of the Seraphim

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Twelve years later, Mikleo still can't sing, but Sorey believes they can ask the Towers what's wrong if they can leave the village. Once they find their reason to leave, they disembark on their journey.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the long wait, but I'm not as inclined to write this one right now because I mostly still don't know the direction I'm going. But I am practicing my Hymnnos with it, and hopefully someone can tell me if I'm doing it right!

“No, Mikleo, you’re still not projecting,” Zenrus sighed. He dragged on his pipe, formulating other methods to get the young seraph to sing properly. “Are you sure your singing with your heart?”

“Yes, Gramps,” Mikleo replied with some frustration with himself. “I just can’t get it. No matter what I sing, it doesn’t work.”

“That’s not my question. You need to feel the emotions you sing or else, of course, it won’t work. Try again.”

Mikleo cleared his throat then imagined something that made him happy like reading about the Mabinogio Ruins with Sorey. He cherished him, and being with him never allowed a dull moment during the day. Occasionally they had their spats, which were resolved with some sort of contest to determine who was right or who was stronger or better or faster in whatever it was that they were doing. In the twelve years that they had spent since learning how to read the Celestial Record, they had become more inseparable; their commonality, fostered by being raised together, was bolstered by their shared interest in exploring everything around them. Every so often, Mikleo dreamt about leaving the village to see the world below them, to find the Towers, and to have Sorey learn Hymmnos so they could sing together. Gramps would never allow it, though, not with humans constantly on the prowl for seraphim. The happiness that he had mustered in his heart gave way to trepidation of being captured and taken away from the only family he knew.

“ _Was yea ra…_ ” he had started before he hesitated. Again his feelings didn’t match what he was singing. “Gramps, this is impossible for me. Can I just learn how to use my Seraphic Artes? Do I really need to learn how to sing?”

Zenrus lowered his head. If Mikleo couldn’t sing, then how would he protect Sorey? Being able to sing was part of what it meant to be a seraph; being able to sing was the only way the world could use him for defense, and defending the world was the only way to make sure everything didn’t end in ruin. He supposed that working on his Seraphic Artes was important, but such abilities were only good for delay and attacking enemies one-on-one. Then he got an idea.

“Have you tried singing in front of Sorey?” the old lightning seraph asked.

“You know I have, but it doesn’t help.”

And soon enough, Zenrus’s idea was discarded like a torn-up cardboard box. Calling for a break, he dismissed Mikleo because forcing him to sing was akin to the slavery that humans committed to their kind. The young water seraph sighed with relief then went on a search for his bosom buddy.

Sorey, now seventeen years old, had gone to the forest around the ruins to hunt for prickleboars, and when he had failed to catch any of them, he decided to take a nap under one of the trees. He figured that Mikleo would be busy the entire day trying to connect with the Towers, like he had been for the past twelve years, and so it was only natural that he would have gotten used to not really doing anything productive until he was done with his training. He had already gone through his training in artes. In fact, Mikleo had taught him one that was a variation of his—Heavenly Torrent. It wasn’t powerful, but it frequently gave him the upper hand in nabbing him a few prickleboars.

“It’s weird how seraphim have both the Song Magic and the Seraphic Artes,” he mumbled to himself after he roused. He pulled out his Celestial Record, leafing through it until he found a section entirely on the two techniques. He had read it so many times in his youth in hopes of finding the secret for a human to learn how to use Song Magic:

_Song Magic is the Power granted solely unto the Seraphim by the Towers. Using Song Magic requires that the Seraph feels the same Emotions at the Time they wish to sing, and it is only possible to establish a Connection with the Towers if those Conditions are met. Song Magic grows stronger the longer a Seraph accumulates the Power gifted from the Towers. Song Magic can only be accessed by Way of Hymmnos, making it useless to Humans. The Comprehension of Hymnnos is too difficult for the average Human to understand, but the full Extent to which Humans can process Hymnnos is still a mystery._

_Unlike Song Magic, Seraphic Artes do not require the Use of Hymmnos. Seraphic Artes are intrinsic Feature of Seraphim, and these Abilities are born deep within any Seraph’s Soul. The Element that a Seraph is born into dictates which types of Seraphic Artes that the Seraph will be able to use. As such, Seraphic Artes are thus categorized and utilize the Environment around them as opposed to deriving Power from the Towers. Chosen Weapons allow the Seraph to better channel their Element, strengthening the Seraphic Arte and allowing the Development of a Culture befitting of that Seraph. In a Community, different Seraphim may combine their Seraphic Artes to produce entire Villages._

Even if Sorey read it a million times more, he couldn’t glean anything from the two paragraphs. He was sure that the single arte he knew didn’t count as a Seraphic Arte, which filled him with doubt that he was ever going to be strong enough to support Mikleo.

He heard Mikleo trying his best to sing as he neared him, but the look of defeat on his face made it evident that today, like the other days, had been a failure. He stood up to stretch and to greet him, starting the conversation with, “I take it training didn’t go so well again?”

“No, and Gramps doesn’t seem to care too much that I can use Seraphic Artes. I mean, if it were up to me, I’d rather just help build the village up and protect it than act as a frontline for the entire continent,” Mikleo replied. He was sulking.

“I bet if we left the village, we could ask the people running the Towers about this. Twelve years and no progress sounds exceptionally bad—so bad that they might actually want to help out!”

“Or we could obey Gramps and just stay in the village. Sorey, you know what would happen if we left.”

Sorey rested his hands on Mikleo’s shoulder with a beaming smile. He didn’t like seeing his best friend and partner in crime get so depressed. Everyone had their weaknesses, and not being able to sing was just another one if Mikleo’s.

“It’s more of a _disability_ than a weakness,” Mikleo sighed. He felt his cheeks sting, which prompted him to look up at Sorey to find him pinching his cheeks. “Sorey, you know I hate it when you do this!”

“No, you don’t!” the brunet laughed. “Cheer up! We’ll get you singing in no time!”

Whenever Sorey got like that, Mikleo had hope. Sorey believed in him, and he didn’t want to let him down. The least he could do was buck up. He gave him a grateful smile; he was glad that he had expended the energy to make sure he was still confident in himself. Sorey and Mikleo held each other’s hand and walked back to the village’s entrance, passing through the protective domain that Zenrus had put on it to keep intruders out.

The rest of the day was rather tame. Sorey went back to his house to eat dinner, and Mikleo joined him after another round of trying to sing at Zenrus’s house. The emerald-eyed brunet made a plate for him when he learned that, unsurprisingly, his best friend still couldn’t connect to the Towers. In return for his hospitality, Mikleo used his Seraphic Artes to make some homemade ice cream. The two of them shared it as they read the Celestial Record again and imagined what was inside the Towers. Everything ended that night with a bath together.

Mikleo got ready for bed then noticed that Sorey was staring out the only window the stone house had. He had a worried expression, or was it a puzzled one? The water seraph joined him at the window.

“What’s wrong?” he asked.

They saw in the center of the village a number of their neighbors and the silhouettes of people they didn’t recognize. One of them was pushing one of their friends, Mason, to the circle of seraphim on the ground, sitting him down and kicking him over. What appeared to be a spear was pointed at his head.

“We have to hide…!” Sorey panicked.

“W-What’s going on?”

Sorey ignored him, instead giving his attention to the lock on his door. A small chain lock wouldn’t hold the intruders back; he pushed as many pieces of furniture he owned all while ordering his seraphic friend to find a place to hide. Sorey then thought about Gramps; was he okay? Did the intruders get into his house yet? Why hadn’t he heard any lightning bolts or songs?

“Tell me what’s going on!”

“Stay quiet!”

Sorey poured water on his fire place and pulled the curtains closed. He ushered Mikleo to his bed where they curled up close to each other. He pulled the covers over them. He placed his finger over his lips. Now Mikleo was scared.

They heard the voices of the intruders to their peaceful village ordering each other to break into the houses and check for stragglers. Two of them neared Sorey’s home after claiming that they had heard some sort of rummaging going on inside it. They tried with all their might to force the door open, but thanks to the all the furniture that barricaded it, it didn’t budge. Someone then shouted to break the window and crawl through, but even before shattering the thin glass, the intruders knew they couldn’t fit through it. They eventually left, deciding that they had rounded up the other seraphim and were ready to take them back to wherever they were from.

There was an unsettling silence after the intruders left. The two young men left the safety of their bed for the window. Their friends’ houses had been ransacked. Doors hung open in the moonlight to reveal that a couple of them had been wounded in the process during their occupation. Something long and golden shined in the grass.

“Look over there!” Mikleo exclaimed as he pointed at the mysteriously familiar object. “You don’t think it’s Gramps’s pipe, do you?”

“I hope it isn’t,” Sorey replied. He gulped. His mouth was dry from the apprehension brought on by the sudden upheaval. 

Quietly moving to his barricade, he pushed the furniture out of the way. He stuck his head out of door; there weren’t any intruders that stayed behind to nab them. Mikleo followed behind him with his staff summoned in his hand. He was prepared to fight off anyone; he couldn’t sing but he knew his Seraphic Artes well enough to defend the village if he had to. 

When Sorey picked up the object, his heart began to race. It was definitely Zenrus’s pipe, but he didn’t remember seeing their guardian among the captives. Mikleo placed a shaking hand on his; Zenrus had to be okay. He was the strongest seraph they knew—so strong that he commanded the heavens to rain down lightning bolts! But why hadn’t he fought off the intruders? Why hadn’t he detected them when they entered his domain? These questions and many more swirled in their skulls like great typhoons, and they looked in the direction of his house. No one had come out since sunset.

Zenrus was like a father, a mentor, and a protector to them. Why hadn’t he been outside helping Mason and the others? Why was his pipe in the grass? Sorey felt sick even with Mikleo holding his hand to give him the courage to go see the old seraph. He walked towards his house—the house that had started the village for Sorey’s sake. That was what he and the other seraphim had told him as he grew up. They did so many extraordinary things for Sorey and Mikleo’s sake, and to have that be disrupted out of the blue scared him. His walk evolved into a brisk one then a panicked run. Before too long, he was at the threshold of Zenrus’s stone house. Unlike the other houses, the door was shut and there was a faint glow behind the curtains. Zenrus never left the fire under his kettle burning through the night for fear when they were younger that they would get burned. The door knob was warm, getting hotter every minute.

“S-Sorey…” Mikleo stuttered.

The young brunet tore open the door and found that the farther room of the stone house of the Great Lightning Seraph Zenrus was engulfed in an inferno. The fire blazed so brightly that trying to search for anybody would ensure blindness if not a horrible death. The first room of the house that was closer to them was only now getting charred.

“Stand back!” the water seraph ordered. Sorey refused to move as he dared to jump into the fire for any remains of their dear Gramps. “You’re going to die if you go in! Sorey, please listen to me! Let me put out the fire first!” He managed to pull him back by his collar. “Twin Flow!”

An intertwining torrent of water surged from Mikleo’s glowing hand. It jetted into the fire, and as the rooms filled with steam that billowed out around them, it became clear that Zenrus had not been in his house since his last session with Mikleo. There was a possibility that he was safe, but his absence could not guarantee that. Sorey immediately thought the worst.

“They must have killed Gramps and taken his body somewhere! Mikleo, we have to find him! We have to go now!” Sorey urged. He had this wild look in his eye that was a mixture of despair and panic and confusion that almost made Mikleo want to cry, but the water seraph had to be strong for him.

He cupped his cheeks, brushing the tears away with his thumbs. Now wasn’t the time to try and sing a tune, but he wanted to calm Sorey’s heart. Would the Towers grant him even that tiny wish?

“ _Was wol ga endia shyun yor_ ,” Mikleo tried to sing. His feelings matched what he wanted to express, but he was still incapable of feeling any sort of power flowing through him. He tried a different phrase, and another phrase, and another until Sorey took his hands into his and offered a sad smile. “Even when you’re hurting, I can’t make you feel better.”

“It’s okay,” Sorey choked. “It’s the thought that counts. But singing isn’t going to bring Gramps back. We have to go out and find him and bring him and the others home.”

Sorey dragged him back to his house with the pipe firmly in his grasp. He packed a bag with a few rations and attached his sword to his belt. When they reached the village entrance, they took one last look at their destroyed home. Elysia was a ghost town now until they could bring back their friends. Sorey and Mikleo found a patch of daisies growing near the arch. Picking one each, they kissed the centers of them and said a quiet pray. They vowed to bring back everyone. They vowed to return their home to the serene place that it was meant to be. Zenrus, Mason, and all the others were going to be rescued no matter what happened to them.

Sorey and Mikleo headed down the hillside from Elysia into the Aroundight Forest at the foothill. Unprotected by Zenrus’s domain—now dwindling away since he was no longer in the area—they were exposed to malevolence spewing from the earth. They only had to get somewhere that was even somewhat protected from the wickedness, and they had to get to that destination fast. Mikleo was already beginning to feel ill, and Sorey—being a pure human—was only slightly better off than him.

“How are you feeling?” Sorey asked him periodically.

“Not as well as before,” Mikleo always replied. He didn’t see the point in telling him anything else; allowing him to live in blissful ignorance was worse than knowing the harsh truth. And since he began to cough and feel nauseous, lying wouldn’t have worked anyway.

Clouds rolled over the canopy of the forest, and drops of rain felt through its holes. Even the rain was tainted with sin. As it fell on them, the urge to keep going withered away to a point that Sorey had to resort to pep-talking himself. Soon enough, Mikleo was so drained that he had to be carried out of the last portion of the forest. It continued to rain, but the sight of the outside world, despite its brokenness from the malevolence, was awe-inspiring.

“Mikleo, look at all this! Can you imagine what it looked like when there was no sin?” Sorey asked. “Mikleo?” On his back Mikleo was panting and looking haggard. He had an extremely high fever the likes of which Sorey had never seen him get before. He never knew that the malevolence was that taxing on a seraph; now he was in danger of being infected with a Virus. Sorey sprinted as fast as he could across the dying landscape. He avoided whatever hellions were around, talked to Mikleo to try and get him to respond, and prayed that he was going to be okay.

The entrance to the metropolis that sat on the lake in the center of the land was blocked by rows of guards. Caravans filled with artesian goods and other valuables were parked across the grass from them. Sorey was forced to stop with his ailing seraphic friend suffering behind him. They were inspecting people for seraphim.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The full Hymnnos phrase written in this chapter is a purely original one, so I really don't know if it's grammatically correct. I hope it is because I put a lot of thought into it.


	3. Phase 1:  The Difference between Hyland and Rolance

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sorey and Mikleo learn more about the Towers and the doctor for seraphim

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's been like two years since I've played or even looked at gameplay of Ar Tonelico. That said, I've compiled reference materials and the lexicon from the Hymmnos Server to aid in future Song Magic. I feel like the story might become less like the games as I go further. Mixing the game elements is fun, though, and I'm trying to build how both world would work (since Ar Tonelico's universe is a smidgen more technologically advanced and Zestiria's not so much). I'm also feeling a little bit of an Elfen Lied vibe, but not as drastic.

Sorey backed away with Mikleo still in tow. One look at the water seraph and the guards at the checkpoint would seize him without a care if he was sick or not. Or maybe they would care and toss him over the bridge to drown and become a hellion. The long line of horse-drawn caravans awarded him some time to think about what to do. He thought that he could borrow a disguise from one of the merchants, but he had read that merchants had a penchant for being picky about renting out items. Besides, who was to say they wouldn’t rat him out for the bounty that is probably on any seraph’s head?

If there was another way into the city, surely he could sneak in; just then the guards reiterated several times that the check was mandatory and any attempt to bypass it would be met with a detention. That plan went down the drain.

“Hang on, Mikleo,” Sorey whispered to his friend. “I’ll get us in there without them knowing.”

“And how do you suppose you’ll do that?” a new voice asked behind him. It wasn’t Mikleo’s voice but that of an older man. “Humans nowadays can spot a seraph from miles away.”

Sorey turned around to find a tall, beefy man with shoulder-length black hair and a goatee. He was a merchant, and contrary to his appearance and his voice, he had a gentle look to him. He didn’t seem dangerous since he hadn’t even attempt to pluck the white-haired young man from Sorey’s back. The guards were getting closer. The man beckoned Sorey to his caravan, and the brunet cautiously followed him. His caravan was operated by a pair of orange-haired twins and at the front of it was a red-hair girl around Sorey’s age. The man secretly mumbled something to this girl, whose expression remained unchanged until she looked him over and was dumbfounded that he had a seraph out in the open. How the guards had yet to see him was remarkable, but there was no time to remain in awe by his effortless stealth.

“Boss, are you sure?” the male twin asked. “If we’re caught with even one seraph, they won’t pardon us. Two will get us killed.”

“You have another seraph?” Sorey questioned.

“He’s in the same shape as yours; the malevolence in this area is particularly bad. Boss, what would Dezel say about this?”

“Dezel will have to deal with it until we can get to the underground doctor,” the red-haired girl quietly retorted. “He always wants to sacrifice himself, but we can’t afford to lose any more seraphim in the world.” The red-haired girl called on the man to follow her to the back of the caravan, which was stocked with as many boxes it took to form a wall. Everything was secured with rope except for one box that remained slightly out. “Eguille, you know what to do.”

The man, Eguille, pulled the box out carefully and allowed Sorey to peer in. The cargo had an open space in the center big enough for a man to sleep, and precisely as he thought, there was someone sleeping inside. Without further delay, Eguille carefully lifted Mikleo off of Sorey’s back much to the brunet’s protest. The water seraph roused.

“S-Sorey…? What’s going on?” Mikleo asked him as he began to panic.

“It’s okay!” Sorey hushed. “They have another seraph in there named Dezel. They’re taking him to the ‘underground doctor’. Maybe we can get help for you, too.”

Mikleo still fought against Eguille, whom was trying his best not to upset the arrangement of the boxes. If they fell out, Dezel would be exposed. Sorey finally volunteered to go in before him so he felt better. He wiggled into the cramped clear space in the caravan next to the seraph already inside.

It was a wind seraph with silver-to-green shoulder-length hair and bangs that covered his eyes. His clothes were folded neatly beside him, and a thin sheet was spread over him. His curiosity got the better of him, and Sorey felt his head. The wind seraph was burning just like Mikleo was. Sorey returned to the small entrance to receive the water seraph, who continued to express how against he was going into the back of an unknown person’s vehicle. Eventually, and just before the guards had reached the one in front of their, Sorey managed to pull him into the caravan then gave the okay for Eguille to close the hole. He pushed a couple more boxes in front of that box so it looked like there was really only cargo in there.

Mikleo grimaced. “Can you even trust these people?” he argued.

“I’ve never seen humans that would take care of a sick seraph other than myself,” Sorey replied. “I’m sure it’s fine. Now, stay quiet or else they’ll find you and Dezel.”

“You even know his name?!”

Sorey covered his mouth upon hearing what might have been the captain talking to the red-haired girl and Eguille. First he was civil about the check, simply asking where they were headed and what business they had in the city named Ladylake. When the red-haired girl responded that they were going to drop off merchandise for the merchants in the city, the guards scoffed. They had heard the same reason from ten other caravans. They demanded to check her cargo.

Mikleo’s heart raced in his narrow chest as he heard the skidding of the box that allowed them to get inside. As long as the guard didn’t try to move the one next to them, they were safe. They heard the skidding sound again as he replaced the box. The guard cleared them, and soon the caravan began to rumble as it pulled around a small bend and crossed the threshold of the bridge.

Sorey and Mikleo relaxed. They had escaped without being discovered, but now they were indebted to the band of merchants. How could they repay them for smuggling them into the city?

The bridge was a long one, and the jittering from crossing its cobblestones caused Mikleo to become nauseous. The fever was worsening again, and soon he fainted into Sorey’s arms. Next to the two young men, Dezel cringed in pain. The malevolence further into the city was just as bad—if not worse—as the malevolence outside of it.

The caravan stopped suddenly after a while, and Sorey heard Eguille and the red-haired girl talking.

“I know Mayvin said to limit contact with humans in Ladylake, but that guy isn’t from here,” the red-haired girl said. She was talking so loudly and openly that he assumed they were far away from the guards.

“But we’re endangering the doctor if we keep bringing more seraphim to her,” Eguille replied. “I understand you want to help them, but we can’t get involved.”

“Dezel is already sick; the least we can do is just to be there if she can’t fix that water seraph. She has a seraph helping her, too. Don’t you think that seraph would want to help?”

“Rose, you’re starting to sound like regular humans now.”

“They’re lonely in the world. Didn’t you hear? The Hyland army just got back with a village’s worth of seraphim. If this keeps going on, and if they keep slaughtering them for their own gain, the seraphim won’t have anyone to cry for.”

Sorey listened while holding Mikleo close to him and thinking about Dezel. Rose was so adamant about keeping the seraphim company and helping them that he wasn’t even sure if she was just saying all that because she knew he was inside with two of them.

“I wish that girl would have just left me to die…” Dezel rasped.

The worn wind seraph sat up and held his head. He was more muscular than what Sorey was expecting, but at the same time he acknowledged that Mikleo had a small and delicate frame. He caught a glimpse of one of his eyes.

“Um, excuse me,” Sorey sheepishly asked. “Are you blind?”

“So the kid finally speaks. Yes, I am, but I’m still capable of perceiving the world around me…even in this weakened state.”

“A-Ah, no, I don’t want to hurt you. Rose was talking about taking you to a seraph doctor and brought us along since Mikleo is sick like you.”

“I thought I sensed another seraph. Water? Hmm, if Rose wants us to get better, she better hurry up then. Water seraphim are particularly vulnerable to the malevolence, and the Viruses that develop in them are some of the worst kind.”

Sorey’s heart skipped a beat. He frantically pushed the boxes out of the way to get out, and when he was free, he found that the caravan had been parked near an inn. Eguille had just come out to move the caravan, but seeing that one of the caravan’s guests was so eager to get out of it, he just sighed and turned around.

“Wait, Eguille!” he called out to him.

“What is it?” Eguille coldly asked.

“Mikleo! Is he going to be okay?!”

Eguille glared at him. Talking about his seraph out in the open was a good way to get killed and get them kidnapped. Simply saying names wasn’t bad, but if anyone was going to get sick from the malevolence, it was going to be a seraph.

Rose came out of the inn with the twins at her heels. She told Sorey to get back into the caravan since they were about to drive to the doctor’s home. Sorey did as he was told.

The ride was especially rocky up the stairs to the marketplace in front of a large sanctuary. Ladylake had no proper ramps for the vehicles, so they had to take their time and go at it slowly. They then got passage into the nobles’ district, where there were a few bends around the walls and canals that brought the caravan to a screeching halt in front of a large mansion with a marble patio. Verdant grass and trees lined the yard along the walls until the wall that held the gate that served as the entrance to the property.

Sorey waited for Eguille to pull the box out before sliding through the opening out into the open. He was surprised to find that even though they were in the nobles’ district, there were no guards. He found a few particularly scholarly-looking men dressed in ornate robes, and he wanted to ask them so many questions.

“Kid, hold onto your friend and stay at the front of the caravan,” Eguille commanded. “We’re in a nest of greedy people; take care that your friend isn’t seen.”

“But if I stand at the front, wouldn’t the person living in that mansion see us?” Sorey asked, thoroughly confused.

“It’s fine.”

Eguille then help Rose pull Dezel out, using the utmost care for the wind seraph almost like he was afraid to cause the slightest discomfort. If the young brunet had to guess, there was probably some time that Eguille had been rough with Dezel, and Rose wasn’t exactly pleased with him.

Sorey took solace in that there were people that cared about the seraphim and didn’t abuse them. Just like he loved Mikleo, he sensed that Rose had a deep love for Dezel. She was like a little girl with her favorite kitten. His exchange with the blind seraph during the ride, though, suggested that Dezel didn’t feel the same. He wanted to die when she found him. It was understandable given the current state of the world, but he at least wanted to believe that there was even a fragment of hope in him that he would want to help heal the world. But aside from his outlook on life and purpose, he seemed different from Mikleo. He had read in the earlier chapter of the Celestial Record that there was a marked difference in seraphim depending on where they live and therefore which Tower they could connect to.

The Hyland area, which encompassed everything from Elysia to a place called the Glaivend Basin, connected to Eolia. Sorey remembered the relative position of Eolia because Elysia lie in the east of Ladylake. Eolia, Elysia, East. As such, Mikleo and the other seraphim were affiliated with Tower Eolia while the area around the second-poorest city on the Glenwood Continent called Lohgrin was connected to Tilia. The Rolance area was governed solely by Tower Frelia, and if he remembered correctly, Tower Frelia had a different dialect for Hymmnos. He had never heard what it sounded like, but he was immensely interested in learning what it sounded like.

The more he thought about it, the more he was eager to acquire the knowledge he required to fully understand Mikleo’s problem. If he could just ask Dezel to sing Hymmnos for him and compare it to the Hymmnos that Mikleo knew, would he be able to uncover why he couldn’t use his Song Magic?

“Alright, let’s get this done quickly,” Rose sighed. She had dressed and now was singlehandedly carrying Dezel on her back despite him being significantly taller than her. Upon closer inspection, she was tiring easily. “The sooner we can get these guys fixed up, the less likely she’ll be found out.”

“You keep saying ‘she’, but who is ‘she’?” Sorey asked.

Rose and Eguille took the lead into the mansion while the orange-haired twins stayed with the caravan. Sorey was somewhat alarmed that they wouldn’t answer him, but he attributed it to urgency of the situation. He followed after them with Mikleo curling in his arms.

The inside of the mansion was less extravagant as if the proprietor was more concerned about the functionality of things rather than the aesthetic. There were still a few ornamented decorations, but they didn’t follow a single style. They had to have been gifts reflecting the tastes of whoever had gave them to the owner.

Rose and Eguille walked to the salon. Clearly it wasn’t their first time in the mansion since they knew exactly where to go. They placed Dezel on the ivory-embroidered couch then waited in silence. Sorey continued to hold Mikleo knowing that it would make him feel safer in such an unfamiliar place. Or perhaps it made Sorey feel better. Mikleo wasn’t necessarily a timid person, but he didn’t want to take any chances in the corrupted lands of the humans.

“Shouldn’t we announce that we’re here?” he asked after a couple minutes of not doing anything but reestablishing his grip on his friend.

“Her seraphic friend does fortune-telling, so we have to stay quiet so we don’t interrupt her,” Rose explained.

“Rose,” Dezel uttered. She turned to him with concern. “We don’t have to be here. It’s worse this time; we shouldn’t make Lailah waste her energy.”

“Nonsense!” Rose happily said. “Lailah’s fire will get rid of that malevolence! Just…just have faith, okay?”

There was a change in atmosphere suddenly. Undoubtedly, malevolence had been seeping into the mansion, but it felt like it had been wrapped up in a tarp and thrown away outside. Was this Lailah’s doing?

Dezel regained enough strength to sit up on the couch while Mikleo woke up positively confused about where he was. He looked up at Sorey, who was overjoyed that he was conscious again. Before Sorey could explain anything from where they had reached to his theories about Rose and Dezel and Eguille, a chipper voice sang from the hall:

“Welcome, welcome! I’m so glad you could finally make it!”

A seraph wearing blood-red and snow-white elegantly emerged from the deeper recesses of the mansion. Her long ponytail swayed gently behind her, the ends of it colored reddish-pink like how Mikleo’s ends were cerulean and Dezel’s were peridot. Her jade eyes were smiling at them; Sorey couldn’t remember the last time he saw a seraph so happy. He also wondered if her fortune-telling had foretold of their arrival.

“Lailah, it’s been so long!” Rose greeted with the same amount of cheer. “How have you been? Have the Hyland knights been nice to you?”

“Of course! Princess Alisha makes sure that they never touch me,” Lailah answered. “I’m truly in her debt. Ever since she saved me when she was a small child, she has guarded me from them.”

After Lailah was finished catching up with Rose, she turned her attention to Dezel and even though her face remained unchanged, the curious brunet sensed she felt uneasy. Was she nervous that he was there? Did she even notice him? Perhaps she was more anxious because of the level of malevolence in the wind seraph.

“Do you really have to be that grumpy that your Squire has brought you to me?” she finally asked.

“I’ve been ‘grumpy’ for the last twelve years,” Dezel grumbled. “She’d have avoided all this trouble if she’d just minded her own damn business.” He crossed his arms over his chest. “I didn’t ask to be rescued, and I’m certainly not asking for it now.”

Another young woman walked into the room carrying a tray of cookies and brownies and other baked sweets. Her blonde hair was pulled into a coiling side-ponytail and she had a peace lily pinned into the tie. Her armor and underlying attire was similar to that of the guards albeit had pinks and whites, and the knee guards were made of obsidian glass—a rare material forced from crystallized malevolence. For her to have that, she had to have been a strong person. Her eyes, however, were the same as Lailah’s in that they were kind and welcoming. She seemed to be a trustworthy person, especially if she was the one that Lailah had been talking about.

Eguille neatened him goatee and smoothed his hair. “Pardon us for not looking respectable, Princess,” he apologized.

“P-Princess?!” Sorey blurted out in surprise. “The underground seraphim doctor is a princess?!”

Rose punched him in the head. “Keep your voice down!” she whispered. “Do you want her to get in trouble?”

According to Rose and Lailah, Princess Alisha Diphda of the Hyland Kingdom was the one that had protected the fire seraph from the guards and priests. An upstanding girl, she had taken it upon herself to see that seraphim were treated justly. She offered her home to stray ones in the city and prayed to Lailah to help them. Occasionally, she managed to sneak them out of Ladylake all together, urging them to remain hidden and not to lose hope that one day they would be safe again.

“It’s really okay,” Alisha laughed. “Even if the priests and guards and Chancellor Bartlow were to find out about me, I’d still have it in my power to intimidate them. But enough about that; let’s see about Dezel and…?” She pointed at the water seraph.

“M-Mikleo,” Sorey bashfully answered. To think he would be in the company of a princess!

“Lailah, please do your best.”

The beautiful fire seraph nodded reassuringly. She pulled two slips of paper from her sleeves, and on them were scribbles that could only be taken as spells. She placed one on Dezel’s chest and the other on Mikleo’s. Standing in the center of the room, the scribbles appeared on the floor, encircling her and glowing with a warm sun-like light.

“Be led not into temptation but delivered from evil,” Lailah started. The incantation caused the inscriptions on the floor to glow brighter, the scribbles on her papers mimicking the augmentation of the light. “Let the purifying flames drive out the malevolence.”

Golden flames burnt the paper, wisps of black puffing out in clouds before also burning away. Dezel sat up as instructed by Lailah, and he reluctantly thanked her for her service. Mikleo shifted in Sorey’s arms before asking why he had ashes on his chest. When he learned that he had been temporarily purified. Strangely enough, though, it wasn’t Song Magic. It was a regular Seraphic Arte or perhaps something even deeper than that.

“Was that an Arte?” Mikleo asked. He was thoroughly intrigued by the power she had used on him.

“It’s more of a latent ability. Princess Alisha helped me develop it by Diving into me. Have you Dove into your seraph friend before?” She directed the question at Sorey, who was puzzled by what she meant. “I take it you haven’t.”

“Basically, Diving is a process of building trust, and building trust allows a seraph to develop latent abilities like Silver Flame,” Alisha explained. She pulled out her copy of the Celestial Record. “The only way it can work, though, is if the seraph gives permission. According to the Celestial Record—”

“You have one, too?” Sorey sheepishly inquired.

“Don’t interrupt,” Mikleo pouted. “This could help me.”

“According to the Celestial Record, Diving can only be performed by a human that has established a bond with a seraph. If a seraph were to Dive into another seraph, chances are that both would die. It also says that by Diving, the seraph’s abilities increase exponentially. Ooh, here’s an extra tidbit: The contents of the Dive session must stay between the seraph and the human in the bond.”

Mikleo’s once dull violet eyes brightened with hope as he quickly turned to Sorey and took up his hands. “We need to Dive!” he earnestly said. “Maybe something inside me is wrong, and that’s why I can’t connect!”

Sorey wasn’t sure; he was scared that by Diving, he would hurt Mikleo. It was undeniable that the method would open up a few opportunities to explore his mind, but at what cost? Not to mention, Diving sounded like a rather intimate process. And it was. Alisha explained that the first time she Dove into Lailah, she was only a blossoming teenager. There were rough patches in her soul that were vulnerable to infections by the malevolence, but over the years they had worked together to seal them up and awaken her abilities. Having going through to the very last level of her soul, Alisha was also able to Armatize, or literally become one with Lailah.

The more Alisha explained, more agitated Rose got despite already having known her for a long time. At the end of the day, the seraph doctor was no better than humans—treating the seraphim like systems to be manipulated. She was receiving a free service, so she bit her tongue.

“What about seraphim connected to Rolance’s Tower, Frelia?” she asked. “Does Diving work with them?”

“Of course, but there might be slight differences considering that seraphim that connect to Frelia use a different type of Hymmnos,” Lailah explained.

Sorey and Mikleo were lost once again. They knew that Hyland was under the effect of Eolia and Rolance was under Frelia, but did that really matter? He knew Frelia’s Tower could only be accessed by a different type of Hymmnos, but it was in fact a different dialect called the New Testament of Pastalie. When asked to give them an example, Dezel curtly replied:

“I can’t.”

“Why not?” Sorey asked.

“We’re not in range of the Frelia Tower, so my Song Magic is effectively useless here.”

“What about your Seraphic Artes?”

“Intrinsic abilities aren’t affected by the Towers.”

Rose thought that perhaps by Diving into Dezel, she could find a way for him to use the other two Towers. Dezel was against it, and he refused to give any sort of explanation.

Alisha offered Rose and Sorey a place to sleep, and while they accepted, the former ordered Eguille to move the caravan to avoid suspicion. That night, Sorey thought about all that he had learned.

He understood why Rolance and Hyland were different. Seraphim that had spent a lot of time in the Rolance area adapted to connect to Frelia whereas seraphim in the Hyland area were to connect to Eolia. But then how did they know which one was which? So late into the night, it didn’t matter much to Sorey as the idea of Diving into Mikleo. He would need his permission, but he wanted to help him discover himself. And, not lying to himself, he was quite curious to see what it was like inside of his soul.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Long ass chapter. Time to put this one on hold for two weeks as I cry myself into nothingness as another hell week is on the way!


	4. Phase 1:  Divine Artifacts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The prospect of Diving becomes increasingly interesting to Sorey, Rose, and Mikleo. In fact, Mikleo is desperate to Dive as soon as possible, but to Dive, he was going to need a Divine Artifact.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I learned that trying to write for a full 24 hours is probably a bad idea mainly because I'm mentally drained now. Unfortunately, there's no Hymmnos in this chapter, but let's hope there will be some in the next chapter!

Lailah and Alisha had woken up earlier than their guests the next morning to prepare breakfast for them. There were times when Lailah asked why Alisha didn’t have her servants prepare food, to which the princess replied that she would much rather make and eat pastries with her beloved seraph than have someone make food that didn’t have the same love in it.

“Alisha, you’re too kind!” Lailah responded every time.

This morning Lailah wanted to cook alone. Alisha complied since she was curious about Sorey and Rose, and it was obviously written on her face by her twinkling eyes when she became cognizant again and again that there were humans that sought to protect seraphim. She watched them both and made her observations into a small pocket journal she kept for strange phenomena.

First was Sorey. She inferred that he and Mikleo had a very close relationship, evidenced by the fact that they were sleeping together so closely that she would have thought them more as lovers instead of a human and a seraph. The water seraph looked serene without the perpetually serious furrow in his eyebrows to give him the appearance of stoic warrior. He nuzzled his face into Sorey’s chest periodically while sleeping. He must have found great comfort in him. Sorey’s arm draped over him and curled around his back. Alisha had to admit that for a pair of guys, it was quite odd to see them look so innocent; she couldn’t help but think that was what she and Lailah looked like when they slept together.

She moved onto to Rose.

Unlike Sorey and Mikleo, the red-haired merchant and her seraph had a very clear boundary in their relationship. A few pillows were separating her from Dezel, who wasn’t even lying down. In fact, all the pillows _belonged_ to the cold wind seraph. He had propped himself against the headboard for the bed, and while that in itself was uncomfortable, he had the patience and diligence to put up with it if it meant that he didn’t have to be near Rose. Speaking of Rose, she looked much less ladylike than she did when she was awake. Her mouth was agape with drool trickling out. Snores erupted from her throat. She was hugging two of the four pillows put down by her seraph, and her left leg arched over the other two that were further down the bed. Her pillows had been thrown onto the floor, the comforter kicked to the edge of the bed. Her pajama shirt, offered by Lailah, was rolled up to slightly expose her bra. In sharp contrast, Dezel was fully clothed in his regular attire save for his hat being placed on the night stand next to him; his arms and legs were crossed.

Alisha finished her recordings, chuckling to herself as she imagined what their relationships were like on a normal day-to-day basis. The morning sun was trying to break through the curtains, which she pulled back after Lailah announced that breakfast would be done shortly. The pink linen curtains, embroidered with ruby red roses, were pulled apart. The light illuminated the room.

“Good morning, everyone,” she greeted.

Feeling the warmth of the sun on his face, Dezel roused. His arms were undoubtedly stiff, but it was nothing compared to the crick in his neck caused by leaning back against the headboard for the entire night. He looked beside him to find the monstrosity that was Rose next to him. It was just another thing that annoyed him about the girl—her unkempt sleeping position made her seem more like a harlot than a respectable merchant boss.

Sorey woke up, an air of grace around him as he shook Mikleo awake while chirping, “Mikleo, it’s time to get up.” His seraph lazily swatted him away.

“Five more minutes, Gramps…” he mumbled. He scooted in closer to Sorey, which made the latter blush a slight amount.

Dezel turned his head in their direction, sensing how close they were. He grimaced. “Geez, you two act like a newly-wedded couple. Get a separate room!”

“H-He’s always done this since we were kids!” Sorey sheepishly explained.

Alisha let out a laugh. “It’s fine, Sorey, it’s actually cute,” she told him. She asked everyone to go freshen up once Rose and Mikleo decided to wake up. “The menu for Ristorante di Diphda today is pastries and scotch eggs and fresh bacon with a side of seasonal fruit.”

After thanking her in advance for her hospitality, Sorey shook Mikleo again then pulled him to one of the bathrooms despite him feeling groggy and displeased his dream had been interrupted. Dezel reluctantly carried his human guardian after them. 

As they strolled through the mansion, they took in everything around them. The walls were decorated with hand-painted insignias akin to those on vintage wall decorations. All the curtains were the same type as the dayroom where they had been sleeping, and white vases with tessellated reflective diamonds lined the halls, each of them having six faux pink cherry blossom branches in them. At the end of the hall was an even larger vase with tessellated mirror fragments and branches of yellow wisteria. Everything extravagant-looking in the mansion was gifted unto Alisha; whoever had given her the decorations knew exactly what colors would look absolutely perfect in her home. Then they came to a den where the curtains drawn and a large blade with red and gold accents lay on the table in the center of the room.

“Doesn’t that look like the Sacred Blade from the Celestial Record?” Mikleo asked. He stopped in front of the den. “Why would she have the Sacred Blade in her home?”

“We can ask her over breakfast,” Sorey suggested.

Dezel faced its direction with Rose in his arms. It didn’t take much to guess that it was something called a Divine Artifact because warm power wafting off of it. It was comforting, and he began to wonder for what purpose it would be in the princess’s possession.

After washing up and getting dressed, Sorey and Rose and their seraphim met with Alisha and Lailah in the dining room, where they also found platter upon platter of breakfast foods. Croissants, doughnuts, bacon, scotch eggs—all sorts of delicacies made their mouths water. There were three different teas and coffees to choose from.

“Y-You didn’t have to go to these lengths for us!” Mikleo stammered. In spite of the embarrassment brought on by all of the cooking, his stomach rumbled loudly.

“It’s no problem!” Lailah assured. “Sorey and Rose have our eternal gratitude. To have others that believe the same thing as Alisha believes is a relief. Consider it a token of our appreciation.”

Everyone took their seats around the table, grabbing their plates and piling food onto them with no restrain except for Lailah. She only took a raspberry tart. She explained that seraphim weren’t required to eat but do for the pleasure that eating gives. She eyed Mikleo’s plate and told him that as long as he didn’t worry about gaining weight, he would remain slim. He automatically began to push some of his food onto Sorey’s plate, and the ditzy fire seraph apologized for telling him that. Dezel took one item at a time while Rose gobbled up whatever she could. Alisha was astonished even though she figured that merchants had to be famished when they got to their destinations.

When the majority of the food had been eaten, Sorey found his chance to ask about her den. “Why do you have the Sacred Blade here? Shouldn’t it be somewhere safer?” he carefully asked.

“I’m glad you brought that up,” Alisha said. “Remember yesterday when Lailah brought up Diving? Well, items like the Sacred Blade are called Divine Artifacts, which are infused with the energy that seraphim use for their Seraphic Artes. They serve as their vessels.”

The acquisition of Divine Artifacts allowed a seraph and a human to armatize, in which they physically became one body and share a mind. The fusion paved the way from a human consciousness to a seraph’s soul, and through this, the human could witness the seraph’s true feelings. Each seraph had a specific element, and each element had a specific type of Divine Artifact. Since Lailah had claimed the Sacred Blade as hers, Alisha was allowed to use it to connect to her.

“I’ve actually already Dove with her a large number of times,” Alisha concluded. “I wish I could show you, but that would be a breach of her privacy.”

Mikleo sucked the honey off of a spoon he had used to spread the viscous sweet on a piece of toast. He was fighting the urge to demand they go find him a Divine Artifact right now mainly because he knew someone would tell him to stay quiet. But if an ancient relic such as the Sacred Blade could be used as a vessel to establish a link between him and Sorey, he wanted to try it as soon as possible. After all, his inability to sing might lie in his soul.

“If you and Lailah have Dove together, then you two must be really close!” Rose said.

“It’s a product of Diving,” Lailah said, blushing behind her tarot papers.

“Dezel, I bet if you let me Dive with you, you’ll stop being such a sourpuss all the time!”

“Not happening,” Dezel declined.

Sorey laughed then looked over at Mikleo, who was growing more and more uncomfortable as the conversations about Diving progressed. He placed his hand on his knee, worried that he was feeling sick again from the malevolence even though the mansion was completely purified. The water seraph didn’t say anything to indicate that he felt odd but left the table unannounced. His best friend followed after him to the bathroom out of concern.

“What’s wrong?” Sorey asked him, but Mikleo refused to look at him. “You can talk to me, you know.”

“I…I want to Dive with you,” Mikleo mumbled. “But we don’t have a Divine Artifact for me. I think if we can Dive, I’ll finally be able to sing.” He took a step towards him and held his hands, swinging them from side to side.

“Once we finish breakfast, we can ask Alisha where we can find one for you. Then we can Dive and solve this problem.”

He held his face, pushing his forehead to his before remembering that Mikleo was wearing a circlet he had had since his infancy. Such a behavior had become his method to cheering him up when he was far too upset to use the pinched cheeks method. Unlike pinching his cheeks, Mikleo never protested being so close to him, and it made him feel like nothing could go wrong. After a few more seconds standing like that so that he was composed, they returned to the table. Everyone had finished their food.

“Oh? You two look happy,” Rose teased.

“Because we reached an agreement on something,” Sorey truthfully said. “Alisha, Lailah, do you know where we can find an Artifact for Mikleo?”

The hostesses exchanged excited looks. When Alisha was younger and had demanded that she venture out of the city, she and Lailah went all over Lakehaven Heights just to see what was out in the world they weren’t yet allowed to know. To the northwest from Ladylake were the burned buildings of Kylfe, and farther along that trail was a magnificent waterfall that they hoped they could explore one day. Then, past that waterfall and hidden behind a rocky hill was the entrance to ruin, a trove of treasure and discovery. Lailah back then had felt a faint coolness similar to the warmth on her Blade coming from the depths of the ruins. She hoped it was still there.

Rose and Dezel had their caravan to return to, and as much as they wanted to see what Mikleo’s future Divine Artifact was, they had to get moving before the guards in the city got suspicious. Once Eguille had brought the caravan back to Alisha’s mansion and Dezel was tucked away inside, Rose bid her farewells and left for the next city.

While Alisha and Sorey prepared to go, Lailah beckoned Mikleo over into an isolated corner to ask, “Do you and Sorey have a pact?”

“A pact?” Mikleo whispered.

“A pact is a special connection that can’t be easily broken between a human and a seraph.”

“Oh, we’ve read about this in the Celestial Record!”

According to the Celestial Record, pacts used to be common between humans in the past. They were platonic, and they symbolized a group’s unity when faced with problems like death or even just a bad harvest. Eventually pacts grew to mean a more intimate connection between just two people. When humans became corrupted and lost the ability to use Hymmnos, they decided that pacts were no longer necessary. They held weddings instead and pledged to love each other, but lust often sullied relationships. It was saddening to think that humans now couldn’t even value a symbolic gesture, much less one that spiritually connected their souls. But a pact between a seraph and a human was special because it made use of the spiritual connection; in fact, this was required to Dive in addition to the Divine Artifact. A pact augmented a seraph’s power, allowing for the Armatization that was to be performed when Diving. Mikleo hadn’t thought of the pact as anything intimate when he first learned about it, but as long as it was Sorey, he didn’t mind if it was intimate or not. After all, they had already seen each other naked since as far as they could remember. There was nothing to hide between them; a pact wouldn’t be any different than now. Mikleo implored her to tell him how to make a pact with Sorey.

“It’s simple. When we find your Divine Artifact, both of you need to touch it, and Sorey will need to say your true name. Does he know it?”

“Lailah!” Alisha called.

“Mikleo, we’re leaving!” Sorey called as well.

The seraphim joined their partners, took their hands, and they were ready to go until Sorey stopped right at the door. He had smuggled Mikleo into the city; how were they going get him out? Alisha promised that nothing bad would happen to him once she realized that they had come in secretly. If she could scare the guards away from touching Lailah, then she could surely protect the water seraph.

They strolled along through the nobles’ district into the main square where the majority of the guards were. Here they found seraphim working like humans with the single exception that they were forced to use Hymmnos every waking minute to complete their orders. Mikleo watched them in fear; they were toppling over from exhaustion, but the guards made them continue their work. If he was ever caught, would he be run into the ground like this? And how could Lailah and Alisha just ignore all this? The truth was, as they would learn once they left Ladylake, that to keep Lailah safe, Alisha wasn’t allowed to make a fuss about the thousands of seraphim being overworked in her city. To compensate for a powerful seraph living a life of grandeur, every other seraph was to work twice as hard.

Mikleo tightly gripped onto Sorey when a guard approached him and tried to pry him off him arm. “What do you think you’re doing, seraph? You’re supposed to be working!” he growled.

“Leave him be,” Alisha ordered. Her voice had lost all the niceness and innocence that had been there since meeting her only to be replaced with the authoritative tone she needed to keep the guards at bay. “If you touch him again, I’ll order your release from the army.”

“Oh yeah?”

Alisha drew her spear, aiming at the guard’s neck. A terrifying amount of bloodlust was in her eyes. “Back off.”

The guard instantly let the seraph go, and so did the other guards they encountered who had taken him to be an escapee until they were outside of Ladylake and across its bridge out into the open lands of Lakehaven Heights.

“Now we just have to go around this hill and we’ll be at the Galahad Ruins,” Lailah said as cheerfully as possible. She pulled Mikleo along happily as if she had seen her first fellow seraph ever. The water seraph thought it was childish to be frolicking in a grey world, but he thought that entertaining her would at least have its merits at some point.

Alisha and Sorey followed a few paces behind talking about this and that in the Celestial Record before the former got curious. “Mikleo really wants you to Dive into him, doesn’t he?” she asked. Sorey nodded. “I’ve noticed that when seraphim find someone they can place complete trust in, they become very eager to serve them. When Lailah was being mistreated back then, I help her even though I was young—too young to provide any legislation yet old enough to know that she was in pain. Since then, she’s always wanted to be with me and help me. I wonder, is it the same for you? You and Mikleo are so close; is it because you helped him?”

“We were raised together and…” Sorey’s voice trailed off. It wasn’t in his jurisdiction to tell Alisha about his disability. But she pressed him. “Mikleo…isn’t able to use Song Magic. No matter what he sings, it doesn’t work.”

Alisha reasoned that this was because they hadn’t Dove yet even though they fostered a deep enough relationship. It was simply a kink that they could work out by facilitating a look into his soul.

They passed Kylfe and the waterfall, coming to the entrance of the Galahad Ruins that ran deep underground. Mikleo joined Sorey’s side as he leafed through his trusty book about these ruins. They gawked and gaped until Alisha and Lailah pushed them to go down. They wanted to go there in the first place.

The Galahad Ruins were dimly lit and musty. Webs of malevolence that were impervious to Alisha and Sorey’s weapons blocked the way, but they were no match for Lailah’s Silver Flame. Whenever they encountered a hellion, it was up to the three of them to weaken it before Lailah purified it. They soon came to an empty altar after finding their way through the winding ruins.

“I thought so,” Lailah said. 

The presence she had sensed when they first found the ruins, she inferred, was related to the Divine Artifact that had been on the altar. Someone had come in and taken it, and she had a hunch that it was gone when that presence of the power was absent. It was deeper in the ruins, but an evil aura surrounded it.

“So we’ll have to be careful then,” Mikleo sighed. “Hellion or not, I’m going to get that Divine Artifact! I’m going to make a pact with you, Sorey, and we’re going to fix why I can’t use Song Magic!”

“Yes, yes, but there’s not need to get so dramatic,” Sorey giggled. In reality, he was glad that Mikleo was raring to fight. It meant that he was feeling better, more confident in his ability.

With his heart set on paving the way to become a seraph useful to the one he was so deeply linked to, Mikleo led them deeper into the ruins. Sorey followed him, then Alisha, and then Lailah.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Apologies if this chapter doesn't quite match the past ones, but hopefully the method to Dive makes a little more sense. When you have newscasters going nuts over a hurricane, it's kind of hard to concentrate.


	5. Phase 1:  Opening a New World

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cosmosphere Level 1: Mikleo  
>  _Ma num ra chs pic wasara mea,_  
>  _en fwal syec mea._  
>  _Was yea ra chs mea yor_  
>  _en fwal en chs hymme._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The story surrounding the soul spaces of the seraphim will follow the individual stories of the Reyvateils (because that's the kind of crossover this is~) with some minor alterations so that they better fit the Zestiria characters; however, the stories will be mixtures of the Reyvateil stories depending on the issue at hand (for example, Mikleo's first level seemed to fit better following Finnel's first level, but this doesn't mean that the next level will also follow Finnel's route). This is the first Level, so we'll see how this plays out. The pact is akin to the pact formed in Armatization save for the little bit of fanservice I threw in.

The next couple hours played out as a sort of comedy show to Alisha and Lailah. Mikleo marched along through the Galahad Ruins to the deepest recesses with the look of a Kabuki warrior on his face. The intensity of his countenance as well as his exaggeratedly all-business gait was nothing short of hilarious to Sorey, who couldn’t stop laughing at the sight of his seraph friend’s serious-to-a-fault demeanor. It wasn’t really a surprise to him, though. He knew that whatever the Divine Artifact was, it was still going to end up in their hands primarily because Mikleo was steadfast in Diving.

Progressively, Mikleo lost the silly seriousness and focused his energy to actually putting down whoever it was that took the Divine Artifact. And considering that they had ended up on the second floor below the ruins, they were closing in on the thief. It wasn’t long before they came to a large door, and behind it they heard the dings of metal hitting the stone floor.

“Oh, it would seem that the thief trapped itself in this room,” Lailah happily said. She suddenly became grave. “The energy coming from it is a lot higher than I expected. Mikleo, are you sure you want to pursue this artifact? It could be dangerous.”

“Of course, I do! I want Sorey to Dive into me! I want to be able to use my Song Magic!” Mikleo yelled back at her. “I’m so sick of being useless. I refuse to be a waste!”

He hastily ran into the chamber where the thief was, bursting through the door raring to fight. The thief was, unsurprisingly, a hellion that resembled a human-sized centipede. It turned around with a white and gold bow in its pincers, and it was slowly trying to devour it. Mikleo summoned his staff; however, before he could even charge forward Lailah and Alisha in no time killed and purified the hellion. The bow felt to the ground with a clanking sound, leaving him dumbfounded that he couldn’t even destroy the one thing that was stopping him from achieving his current goal. He sank to his knees.

“Mikleo, are you okay?” Sorey asked him.

“I wanted to kill it,” he sniffled. “It was supposed to be my moment. I want to show you that I was strong.”

Sorey patted his head—partly because his seraph’s self-esteem had already taken so many blows—then addressed the situation at hand. He pulled his seraph along to where the bow had fallen. It was made of a rather strong, acid-resistant metal. White with gold and blue accents, it didn’t even have a scratch from the improper handling. Sorey picked it up, but it burned his hand, which forced him to recoil. It clanked against the stone ground.

“Ah yes, Divine Artifacts can only be touched by a seraph before you can use it to Dive. That way, humans can’t misuse it,” Lailah explained. A bit of late explanation, but now they knew.

“I remember when I first grabbed the Sacred Blade; Lailah, you almost cried when I showed you my hand,” Alisha laughed.

“That was a scary experience!”

Mikleo mulled it over. Basically, he had the ability to bestow unto Sorey the privilege of looking deep into his soul. It made him nervous because even _he_ didn’t know what lie in his truest of feelings. What if they were so intense that Sorey was injured or handicapped? If his inner desires did something to him, he decided, he would sever the connection. He didn’t want him to get hurt. So with his resolve firmer than before to control his fate, he grabbed the bow’s leather grip. A flash of light encased him; a surge of power flowed through his veins. Strong like an ocean current, he let out a cry.

Sorey went to offer his help in bracing him against the rush, but Alisha stopped him. “If you interfere with him while he establishes his ownership, you could potentially lose your mind,” she cautioned. “It only lasts for a moment.”

“But he sounds like he’s in some horrible pain!”

“Sorey, please listen to Alisha. This is for your safety and Mikleo’s,” Lailah ordered.

Mikleo grew quiet, but he was still standing. When he looked back at Sorey, he was pale and looked more than just exhausted. The brunet worried that he was going to fall over and go into a coma, and he wasn’t wrong. After offering a triumphant but tired smile, Mikleo’s gaze blurred.

“M-Mikleo!” Sorey called out. He caught him before he hit his head. “Are you okay?! Hey, wake up!”

“He’ll most likely be asleep some hours. Alisha, what do you propose we do? Should we stay here or go back to your manor?” Lailah asked.

Alisha weighed the options. They would be safer in her home, but if her guards caught wind of them Diving, they would arrest the seraphim since they would be vulnerable to an ambush. If Mikleo and Sorey were interrupted during the Dive, both of them would face the possibility of death. But staying in the ruins to carry it out meant that Lailah and Alisha would have to stand guard until they were finished. Both options were unfavorable, but protecting them from hellions was a lot easier than protecting them from the guards.

Lailah got to work on making sweets for them to eat while they waited for Mikleo to wake up. Alisha stood by the entrance of the chamber, and Sorey allowed the incapacitated seraph to lay his head on his lap. The two girls glance at each other every so often, as if using telepathy to gossip about the boys’ relationship. The fire seraph waltzed over to her human when she finished the sweets, a mischievous smile curling on her lips.

“I’ve never seen such a connection besides us,” she whispered sweetly. “I almost want to see into Mikleo’s soul to get a glimpse of what’s in store for Sorey.”

“You know what’s in his soul,” Alisha slyly whispered back. “It doesn’t take a genius to figure it out.”

A few more hours passed. No hellions had wandered into the chamber. Mikleo opened his eyes to find that Sorey was still worriedly looking down at him. He rolled over then touched his forehead to the brunet’s, telling him easily not to look so sad.

“You must be accustomed to the new power inside of you,” Lailah said, forcing herself to pay no mind to that little gesture. She walked suspiciously away from Alisha. “U-Um, so are we ready to start your Dive?”

“Wait,” Mikleo said. “Sorey’s going to be alright, correct?”

“That depends on what your heart says about him. It’s not guaranteed that your mind and soul will accept him, but the Dive will end prematurely if that’s the case.” She instructed Mikleo to hold the bow in front of Sorey.

First Lailah verified their compatibility via trust. This was done by closing their eyes and concentrating on each other’s presence. The question to answer here was whether or not they could feel each other in their hearts and if there was any sort of emotion acquainted with the other’s image. Mikleo’s heart was aflutter, and Sorey’s heart began to quicken slightly; they reported their feelings to Lailah, whom allowed them to move onto the second phase. As instructed, Sorey held onto the bow that was still in Mikleo’s grip. The fire seraph asked Mikleo to repeat after her:

_“Rrha ki erra crannidale dea chiess ture mean._ My true name is…”

Mikleo looked into Sorey’s eyes. They leaned into each other for a chaste little kiss with Sorey breathing onto his lips, “ _Luzrov Rulay_.”

The Sacred Bow shined brightly in their hands. Mikleo was engulfed in the light, manifesting a small blue orb that, in Sorey’s perspective, appeared as his seraph entering his body like a spirit. Sorey’s clothes transformed into a white suit that contoured to his form—muscles and all. Just like the Sacred Bow, the outfit had its share of gold and blue accents. Sorey’s hair grew long and turned golden blond, a single blue feather sticking out of his ponytail.

Sorey looked around. “Where did Mikleo go?” he asked Alisha and Lailah.

“Currently, he’s waiting inside of you for your soul to Dive into his,” Lailah explained since Alisha wouldn’t know the exact mechanizations of the process. “This is called Armatization. When you’ve successfully gone through each level of his soul, you’ll be able to use this for combat as a symbol that your bond is unbreakable.”

Sorey blushed intensely. “Y-You mean, Mikleo is inside of _my body_?! Oh, my God, this is embarrassing!”

_“Sorey, stop it!”_ Mikleo begged. _“If you keep getting flustered like this, I’ll have to de-Armatize! It makes everything feel…weird.”_

Alisha and Lailah snickered childishly. They urged them to begin, so Sorey sat in front of a small fountain of water at the back of the chamber. With the bow in his lap, he straightened his posture. Inside his mind, he confronted a naked Mikleo. Somehow, even though they had been without clothes together before, it felt different. It didn’t feel like when they would take a bath together as children.

_“Are you ready?”_ Sorey asked with uncertainty.

_“G-Go ahead,”_ Mikleo sheepishly permitted.

Sorey approached Mikleo, and as he gently touched the center of his chest, light blinded him, transporting him to Mikleo’s soul space.

\-------------

Sorey took a step forward into Mikleo’s soul space. Contrary to what he had thought a soul would entail, it was exceptionally dark with stone walls all around. A giant replica of the circlet the water seraph always wore was lodged between two of the walls like a statue or monument. There was an area dedicated to mysterious stone pillars, and they looked to be the only thing that fit with the general theme. From the stone pillars, other platforms were present, and they seemed to be connected by invisible pathways that were only seen when the light from the jewel on the circlet hit them just right.

“ _This_ is Mikleo’s soul?” Sorey asked himself. “I’d have thought it was a little livelier. This is just depressing.”

“How dare you insult my master’s soul!” a squeaky voice came. A small creature colored blue and wearing a beret with a water drop on it waddled up. It looked like a combination of a bunny and a bear and a human that Sorey wasn’t sure what to think of it. He certainly didn’t intend to hurt its feelings. It rudely asked, “And just who are you?”

“I’m Sorey,” the brunet replied.

“ _The_ Sorey?! O-M-G! Forgive me, my lord! I didn’t recognize you!”

“You are forgiven?”

“My name is Gaine. I’m Mikleo’s mind guardian, but you can refer to me as Mr. Normin.”

Gaine continued on with an explanation of what precisely it did. Mind guardians were exactly what their titles described. They protected the mind, and therefore the soul, of the seraph from intruders. Occasionally they manifested in the real world, but the secret in that was for another time. If Sorey did anything bad to the soul space, it was allowed to kick him out and force the two of them to de-Armatize. It was only a little painful similar to slowly peeling off a bandage. If there was considerable damage, though, Gaine was allowed to kill him as an intruder.

“Got it memorized? You do anything wrong here, and it just might be curtains for you,” Gaine finished. Sorey vowed to comply with the rules of Mikleo’s soul. He asked that it take him to wherever Mikleo was, but he refused. “I’m not your personal servant. You go find him yourself.” And then he waddled away much to his chagrin.

Left to his own devices, Sorey began his search for his friend, and he figured that it would be best to check out the other platforms to get a feel for the place. The first one with the stone pillars was called Stonehenge. Here was the site that the human could advance to the next level of the seraph’s soul, which was called a Paradigm Shift. The only way to initiate a Paradigm Shift was to solve whatever problem was present on the level, and that wasn’t particularly easy. The Stonehenge served as the entry point into the soul as well. If it were to be destroyed, spiritual maturation was cease. In fact, the entire soul would collapse.

The next closest platform simply had a pair of shackles. The third had a sea of thumbtacks all over the floor. Finally, the fourth platform had a large jail cell. All of these things seemed very off-kilter for someone who had a little more reservation in him than the brunet. Then he noticed that there was someone in the cell, and it just wasn’t anyone but Mikleo himself.

Sorey ran towards it with the hope of seeing his friend and asking what he thought about the Armatization. But when he approached the cell, he found that he looked sick, deathly ill even.

“Mikleo? Hey, Mikleo!” he called out.

Mikleo pushed himself up but fell back down. Accepting that he just didn’t have the strength to properly stand up, he rolled onto his back and looked at him by extending his neck back so that his fluted bangs flopped over to reveal his circlet. “Sorey? Is that you?” he timidly asked. “Please help me! I’m so thirsty that I’m afraid I’m going to die.”

It was somewhat confusing why a water seraph would be thirsty. He could easily make water appear with his powers unless he was devoid of all power in his own soul space. Whatever the case, Sorey had to help him. After reassuring him that he would bring back something for him, he left the platform with the jail cell.

“Gaine! I mean, Mr. Normin! I need your help!” he called out. The little mind guardian waddled up a few minutes later looking positively upset that it was addressed so casually, but its visitor didn’t pay it any mind. “Where can I find some water?”

Gaine crossed his nubby arms. “Oh, you want help? Hmph, maybe you should have thought about that before calling me ‘Gaine’! But fine, if I don’t guide you, you’ll probably end up doing something stupid.” Reluctantly, it brought him to the platform that was covered in thumbtacks then pointed at a single glass of cold, refreshing water on the other side.

“There it is,” Gaine said with something of a smug tone.

“But the thumbtacks…this is really dangerous!” Sorey said.

“You sure about that? You haven’t taken a step yet. Honestly, what does he see in you?”

That question was taken as a challenge. Sorey wasn’t going to let Mikleo down because he was afraid of getting a bunch of tacks getting stuck in the soles of his boots. He dashed across, realizing halfway that they weren’t even real. He was somewhat humiliated but not as much as he was glad to get the glass for him. He carefully walked about so that he wouldn’t drop too much of the precious liquid. He was curious though about the shackles on the second platform. Gaine warned him that if he ventured over there, he would be trapped forever in the soul space. It wasn’t really a bad thing, but there were other things to do both here and in the real world.

As he walked on, he heard another voice.

“Where do you think you’re going with my water?” it asked.

It had a similar voice to Gaine yet it was slightly deeper. When Sorey turned around to get a look at the owner, somehow he wasn’t surprised to find another creature like Gaine marching right behind him. In fact, it was identical to it.

“Gaine?”

“Gaine?! Excuse you, mister, but I’m Acqua! And that’s _my_ water!”

Gaine stepped in. “Relax, Acqua, this guy here is that one guy that Mikleo gets all nervous about.”

“Seriously? He could’ve done better instead of picking up a water-stealer.”

Sorey was thoroughly confused. There was nothing he could do about this altercation, so he proceeded to the jail cell without them with the hope that Acqua really wouldn’t mind if he was giving the water to the water seraph. As luck would have it, however, Acqua lunged at him and started to throw a tantrum on his head.

“Are all mind guardians like this?” he asked Gaine while shielding his head.

“Acqua here is just a regular Normin. Its got the ability to add a water attribute to Song Magic.”

“And I refuse to work for no-good thieves like you!” Acqua cried.

Sorey picked it off his head, gentle sat it on the ground, and explained that it was imperative that he take the water. He told it about Mikleo and how he was severely thirsty. Acqua teared up before pleading to go see the poor imprisoned seraph, and who was Sorey to deny him that? He allowed the Normin on his shoulder then made his way to the jail cell.

Mikleo was whining now from the general discomfort of not having anything to drink. Even the sight of his human didn’t make him feel better. Perhaps it was because there was no obvious door on the jail cell that would open for him to get the gift. How was he going to get the water?

Acqua out of the blue snatched the glass, ran it through the bars of the jail cell, and handed him the water as if presenting a crown. Mikleo was beside himself.

“Thank you, Sorey! Thank you, thank you, thank you!” he joyously cried.

He raised the glass to his lips, but before he could even taste it, Gaine bounced through the cell and knocked it out of his hand. The glass shattered next to him, its content soaking into the stone ground.

“Mikleo, you should really be more careful!” Gaine chastised.

The poor, thirsty water seraph whimpered.

“Sorey went through all that trouble to get you something to drink, and you just drop it. What do you have to say for yourself?”

Again, Sorey was confused. Or was he disillusioned by the display? Mikleo turned to him with tears in his eyes.

“I-I’m sorry…I can…I can still drink it,” he sniffled. He got on his hands and knees, pausing for a short moment, then began to lick the spots where the water had percolated into the stone.

“What do you say when someone gives you something?” Gaine berated.

“T-Thank you, Sorey. I feel a lot better.”

Sorey couldn’t believe his eyes. Mikleo was being so submissive, and Gaine—a mind guardian—was treating him like a slave. He wasn’t one to get angry easily, but he couldn’t stand the scene taking place before him. He stomped up to the jail cell, ordering the seraph:

“Mikleo, stop that right now!”

Mikleo flinched at his voice then stared at the barely visible spots where the water was drying. Gaine jumped on his white and blue head. “What’s the big idea?! Can’t you see he’s enjoying the water that you brought for him?” he yelled back.

“This isn’t right!” Sorey protested. “I thought you were supposed to be his friend, but you’re just a bully! Friends don’t treat each other like garbage! Let Mikleo go!” 

He tried to spread the bars apart, but they wouldn’t budge; they weren’t going to since they were made of steel and Mikleo’s feelings of inadequacy. He didn’t understand why he was so meek. It was like when he was younger—how he thought he was useless because he couldn’t use Song Magic. If he had been living with those thoughts for the entirety of his life, would that mean that these feelings permeated to the lower levels of his soul? If things were already as intense as they were now, what would the lower levels be like? No, he had to break this habit of constantly thinking himself as a lower lifeform. He wasn’t going to stand for someone—even his mind guardian—to abuse him like this! He mustered as much strength as he could to pull the bars apart, and seeing Sorey try so hard to get inside to protect him, Mikleo teared up. The bars finally bent under the pressure, allowing the brunet to run into the cell and push Gaine off of Mikleo. Acqua, who was equally displeased with Gaine’s treatment of their master, joined his side.

“Gaine, I know you were chosen as the mind guardian, but you can’t treat our master like this,” Acqua reasoned. It conjured up more water for Mikleo in the shape of a ball for him to ingest, yet the water seraph seemed too frightened to do so. “It’s alright, Gaine won’t mess this up.”

“Man, you two are a pair of goody two-shoes,” Gaine pouted as he watched the seraph sip the ball of water.

Sorey pulled Mikleo up so that he was standing. After offering him a confident smile and dusting off his clothes and hands, he found that the water seraph was burying his face into his chest with tears of joy spilling from his amethyst eyes. Once again, it was quite different than what he was expecting from his usually calm and collected friend.

“M-Mikleo, d-don’t cry!” he stammered.

“How can I not? I’m just really happy that you saved me!” he smiled. The water seraph picked up Acqua. “And thank you, Acqua, for helping Sorey.”

Acqua saluted before disappearing into a shower of light over him. A new power flowed through him, and he acquired the ability to use water-based Song Magic. Once he absorbed Acqua into him, he felt faint. Sorey steadied him.

“Let’s just go to the Stonehenge,” Gaine grumbled.

It guided them to the stone pillars on the first platform. Sorey and Mikleo held each other’s hand while walking even though Mikleo was uncomfortable with it. Perhaps he was mortified from acting like a damsel in distress. He had to show that he was capable of being strong. Now that he was out of his cage, he felt like he could finally spread his wings and use Hymmnos the way it was meant to be used.

Arriving at the Stonehenge, where the stone pillars were glowing brightly and a portal of light was open. Gaine crossed its arms as it sat on one of the pillars.

“I’m amazed that you were able to complete the first level, but don’t think it’s always going to be easy,” it lectured. “Think of this level as a test. This was your only chance for you two to get accustomed to each other’s souls. From here on out, things are going to get tougher. Are you prepared?”

Mikleo stared at Sorey for a few minutes then answered, “As long as Sorey is here, I can do anything.”

“It’s the same for me,” Sorey added. “As long as Mikleo is by my side, there’s nothing that can stand in my way.”

The water seraph stepped to the edge of the light then turned around. The light created a halo effect around him, and Sorey blushed a little. It was rather majestic, both unfitting and perfect for him.

“Sorey, thank you for Diving into me,” Mikleo sweetly said. The honesty in his voice made his human want to tear up, but Sorey knew that now wasn’t the time for tearful goodbyes. After all, it wasn’t like he was really going away. “When we wake up, you’ll have to tell me all about it.”

Mikleo faced the light, stepped in gracefully, then oriented toward Gaine. His mind guardian prepared to send him off. Before the passage to the next level, he asked him to sing to prove his new power. Mikleo opened his mouth, and with the confidence obtained from the resolution of his plight, he chanted out:

_“Was granme ra grandus dea mea jouee yasra lonfa yor.”_

He disappeared. In his place was a small trail of specks of light. Sorey was glad to know that Mikleo had found happiness in the darkness of his soul. Before he knew it, he was transported out of the soul space.

\-------------

They were still Armatized, but it felt like they had separate minds again. Mikleo deactivated the Divine Artifact, emerged from within him like a butterfly coming out of its chrysalis, and hugged him from behind. Lailah and Alisha had fallen asleep together waiting for the Dive to finish after only two hellions wandered near to the entrance of the chamber, and he couldn’t be happier with that.

“That was amazing! I’ve never felt so liberated!” Mikleo happily said. “What was it like? What did you see?”

Sorey didn’t discuss the finer details for fear of the girls waking up and hearing about it. He couldn’t look him in the eye, though—not after seeing him lick the ground like a pitiful dog. Even remembering the image made him feel like he was responsible for the humiliation that he would never consciously know. Therefore he simply told him that he was having trouble and that he was able to help.

“Oh, do you feel any different? Like you can sing now?” he asked him.

“I feel something.” Mikleo placed his hand on his chest. “But I want to wait for a battle to see how strong it is.”

It pleased Sorey to know that he had managed to make him feel better about himself, and the fact that he should be able to use Song Magic in addition to his Seraphic Artes now excited him. He couldn’t wait to see his power. Sorey was going to congratulate him when he suddenly felt very light-headed. His vision blurred and everything went dark. Mikleo’s voice slowly tuned out from his ears, and soon he couldn’t feel anything at all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I finally figured out how to use the query processor on Hymmnoserver, which means I think I have a pretty good grasp on the grammar now! :D Depending on how the story goes from here with the first Dive, the rating might go higher.


	6. Phase 1:  The Consequence of Forming a Pact

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Diving takes a toll on Sorey, and Ladylake is too far to carry him all the way back. Resting in the abandoned village of Kylfe, Mikleo witnesses the hatred of the Hyland guards.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I've given it some thought, and I think the way I handled Mikleo's first Dive was sub-par. So instead of inserting the Zestiria characters into the stories of the Reyvateil soul spaces, I'm just going to take the general conflict and play with them. Yeah.

Mikleo panicked when Sorey fell unconscious. He thought that by Diving into his soul, he had picked up some otherworldly cold or disease. He was ready to sever the connection between them and terminate the pact, and he would have if Lailah and Alisha didn’t speak to him first.

Alisha told him that it was normal for him to have fainted. When a human formed a pact with a seraph, as she had learned from her experience, the power that came with it was overwhelming to the body. The pact, which connected the seraphic soul and the human soul, allowed the two involved to help dilute the malevolence in either one should they accumulate any. In exchange, the human would suffer a few minor deficits such as a very high fever, sleep deprivation, and slight blindness. There were cases that caused the human to become fatigued very easily, and the more seraphim a human connected to, the more emphasized the anomalies would be. Above all, making the pacts were never so taxing that anything serious happened, per Lailah at least.

“Wait, you mean that there can be more than one seraph connected to a human?” Mikleo asked. The tone of his voice suggested something like irritation.

“Well, in select cases,” Lailah replied. “Someone who is completely—100 percent—pure may have the ability to connect with up to three seraphim. That human would need the Shepherd’s Glove to be able to do it though.”

The Shepherd’s Glove was an ancient artifact that unlocked the potential in whoever was destined to wear it next. True to what Lailah had said, the person had to be pure. It didn’t take a lot of effort to realize that Sorey had that potential, and Mikleo wasn’t particularly happy about it. After all, there were a lot of cons—he would have to share him, he would probably focus on other seraphim’s souls, and on a more serious basis, he would have to be handicapped two more times.

“We should probably get him somewhere he can rest,” Alisha suggested after a period of silence.

Mikleo turned to him looking guilty. He tried to carry him, but his thin arms and small frame could move the brunet only so far. He wondered if he could have used his water to carry him. No, it wouldn’t work because humans needed to breathe. On top of that he wasn’t sure if he could manage carrying him back in a bubble to Ladylake without becoming exhausted. And what would the people say then about it? They would think he was trying to kill him! They would detain him or attack him right there or—

“Mikleo, you need to relax,” Lailah said. “If you worry about all the different ways that people can hurt you, you’ll end up garnering malevolence.” The water seraph didn’t even realize that he had been mumbling aloud every thought.

All three of them lifted Sorey up then slowly made their way out of the Galahad Ruins. For every hellion encounter, they switched roles. Alisha attacked the first group. Lailah purified the next set. Mikleo finished off the third batch. He didn’t get to use the new Song Magic he had gotten, but he was glad. He didn’t want to sing it when Sorey wasn’t even awake to hear him. Especially because this new Song Magic was what they had been working towards, it meant the world to him for his human to listen to him.

“S-So, um, Mikleo?” Lailah stuttered.

“What is it?” the water seraph asked. The trio stopped to give their arms a short break. “This is taking too long. He’s so vulnerable right now.”

“You really care for Sorey, don’t you,” Alisha noticed. Lailah waited to hear his response, even if it was just a simple nod. “Sorey said that you two were raised together.”

Mikleo simply verified what Sorey had said. As they walked he told them that they were always together whether they were exploring the ruins near their home or he was training to sing or in physical combat. Once he started reflecting on the relationship, he wondered if Sorey was raised with him specifically to be his human and to Dive into him. Would Gramps have had the foresight for all this? He doubted it regardless of how wise he was. It didn’t matter anyway because one way or another he would have developed his love for him.

“Ah, yes, that love,” Lailah interrupted. “How would you describe it?”

“What kind of question is that?” Mikleo asked with some exasperation.

“Um—well—you see—the thing is—how should I put it?” Alisha stammered.

“You were so adamant about him Diving into you!” Lailah blurted out.

“Yeah, I’ve never seen a seraph get that excited about Diving! Not even Lailah was that pushy!”

“Is there some sort of deeper meaning to the Dives?!”

“You’ve only Dove once, so are you looking forward to next time?!”

“How _much_ do you _love_ Sorey?!”

Mikleo was so red that they thought he was bleeding from somewhere on his head. He was so uncomfortable from the questions that he almost dropped his partner, too. Did they always think that way about them? He couldn’t deny that the way they acted towards each other was nothing short of a lovey-dovey couple, but what made him paranoid about it was that Lailah and Alisha were behaving like a couple of teenagers that had found a poetry book about the mad screams of love…not that he had heard of such a book himself. Either way, he didn’t want to answer the questions himself. It wasn’t in him to profess or confess, and Sorey—as inept as he was—might not have felt the same way. What if all those times that they were together and being closer than usual were just casual things between brotherly friends and Mikleo was reading too much into them? He almost wanted to cry at that point.

Lailah and Alisha realized that maybe asking all the hard questions right after a Dive wasn’t a great idea either. The inquiries were borderline invasive to his Dive and soul space not to mention just plain embarrassing. They apologized, but Mikleo remained silent and deep in thought.

His mind drifted from the possibility that his affection for Sorey was one-sided to the worry about his health. He wondered if subsequent Dives would have this effect on him or if the conditions that Lailah had outlined would get worse. He wanted to get back as soon as possible, a desire that was so evident that he forgot that Alisha and Lailah were helping him to carry the brunet and started to walk a little faster with every minute.

“Mikleo, hold on, if you keep walking this fast, we’re going to drop him!” Alisha warned.

He didn’t listen, not even when both girls tried to pull Sorey back so that he would slow down. He kept going until they came to the entrance of the Galahad Ruins and stepped out into the dusky environment around them. The few fireflies that were left in the region were beginning to shine. Mikleo sense a massive amount of malevolence as nighttime neared, evidenced by the rising moon. They weren’t going to make it safely back to Ladylake if they continued to go in the darkness.

“We spent a lot more time in there than I thought,” Alisha said. She pointed in the direction of Kylfe. “It’s probably not very safe, but it’s better than staying out in the open like this for the night.”

Lailah reluctantly agreed with her, but Mikleo wasn’t very happy with the consensus.

\-----------------

The abandoned village of Kylfe was a lot scarier at night, so much so that Lailah felt unnerved by the burned buildings. More harrowing was the amount of malevolence that was still concentrated in the small, secluded area from the helpless villagers that used to live there. Alisha picked out a spot underneath an awning that most likely belong to a hay harvester. The ground under it had long been bare from not getting any sunlight since even before the people evacuated the village. The spot was hidden; it was perfect for a temporary camp.

Mikleo wanted to make the little spot more comfortable for Sorey, but with the only things in the village being rotting wood and rocks, he figured that he would use himself as a pillow for him. He hesitated—Lailah and Alisha were already prying into his relationship. He couldn’t do that if he wanted to have some peace of mind.

Lailah picked up that he wasn’t exactly at ease around them after the interrogation. “You don’t have to be cold to him because we were rude,” she tried to reassure. Her words were so motherly. Finally, she gave him a small smile then went to sleep with Alisha on the other side of the plot away from him and his partner.

Mikleo was still hesitant. Who was to say they wouldn’t wake up and gossip about them? Still, when opportunity knocked, he was the one to open the door for it. He lay perpendicular to Sorey so that the unruly mass of brown hair lie on his stomach. He hoped that his cool body would help with the fever.

“Ah, I didn’t even check to see how bad his fever was!” he gasped, sitting up like a toy on a spring. Feeling Sorey’s forehead, he found that the fever was still high but not so high that he would continue to be bedridden. He just had to wait for him to wake up so he could make sure he wasn’t blind. It was that which scared him the most.

Even with all that had happened that day, the water seraph couldn’t sleep. Diving had been a fun experience, but the questions that Lailah ad Alisha were asking still buzzed in his head like a horde of angry bees. Was he really that desperate, and was he really treating Diving as something like an intimate act? He felt guilty again.

He looked up at the moon, visible through a hole the size of his head in the roof of the awning. “The moon looks beautiful tonight,” he half-whispered. He looked at Sorey’s profile. “I wish you weren’t so tired, then you could watch it with me.”

Time passed, and Mikleo gradually got drowsy. Perhaps the rush of the day’s events was what kept him awake and the time to relax in the comfort of Sorey’s presence was just what he needed. There was still the anxiety from his relationship with him, but as long as Sorey didn’t mind that he was always around him, he was happy.

Suddenly, there were some shouts in the distance. The grass near Kylfe rustled and dogs barked loudly. Mikleo’s eyes sprung open to find that Lailah and Alisha were hiding behind buildings; he had been dragged with Sorey over to the side so that he was completely out of sight. Something was wrong. How did the guards find them? Or were they searching for them?

“This is the fourth time that bastard has escaped!” a guard grumbled. “When did you all become so incompetent at your job that you forgot how to secure seraphim?!”

“That Zaveid is a tricky one,” another guard said. “I heard that Rolance had captured him as well, but he escape after just an hour of detainment.”

“At least Rolance didn’t get to keep him. Bloody bastard.”

They were coming closer to the village, their dogs picking up on someone’s scent. The guards came to investigate. Whatever it was, they were more than eager to kill it.

Alisha knew that they could only come so far before spotting Mikleo. It was unfortunate, but she and Lailah were going to have to part with them for the time being to ensure their safety. She and Lailah came from behind the buildings, greeting the guards who hated them eternally with stern looks and commanding posture.

“Princess, what are you doing out here?” the first guard interrogated.

“I should ask you the same thing. Why are you hunting down seraphim again?” she retorted.

“Chancellor Bartlow notified us that Zaveid the Exile has escaped. We are simply fulfilling our duty to him.”

Lailah’s face changed at the sound of that name, and the guards noted that. They jeered at her and taunted her before Alisha took a stance against them for the fire seraph’s sake. The guards backed off only because they realized they were wasting time. They were ready to leave, but the dogs started barking again, inching towards Mikleo’s hiding space under the awning. Lailah flicked a flame at them, hoping that that was enough to stop them from discovering them, but it backfired and the dogs lunged at her. They had been trained to retaliate if any seraph had the audacity to threaten them; she was no exception.

“Lailah!” Alisha screamed. She watched in horror as the dogs mauled her arms and legs while the fire seraph protected her face. The princess held her spear over a dog trying to get her neck, but one of the guards pulled her arms behind her. “Unhand me this instant! You know that I have a protection order on Lailah! Let us go!”

“A-Alisha!” Lailah cried out. In her desperation, she used a Seraphic Arte—Flame Vortex—and killed the dogs. Registering what she had done, she began to panic. She had never outright killed anything whether or not out of self-defense. She was both allowing the malevolence in and trying to keep her head about her to stave it off.

Mikleo curled up with Sorey in his hiding spot. _Don’t sing_ , he commanded himself as he pressed his hand over his mouth, _don’t sing_.

Lailah stepped back from the two remaining guards. Alisha was held hostage now with a knife at her neck. Despite being royalty, the guards had more often than not sided with this mysterious Chancellor Bartlow out of their hatred for her and her cockamamie ideals. The fire seraph was terrified, yet she decided that she would have to use Song Magic to quell the hatred in their hearts long enough for Alisha to get out of her captor’s grip. She raised flames in front of her to defend herself from their attacks as she sang:

_Was guwo ga grlanza en chsee cecet yor_  
_Wee quel ga chs diviega yor sos khal kiakkya mean_  
_Rrha ki gaya rre getrra yorra chs spiritum vianchiel_

Lailah’s flames grew larger as she sang her song. She wished that Alisha had the Sacred Blade with her so she could simply scare them away instead of directly hurting them. She fanned out her papers then blew the fires at the guards. They faltered but were still ready to take her down. Their hatred was strong, but she wasn’t going to give up. She was prepared to take on the malevolence that came with severely injuring humans for Alisha’s sake. She couldn’t kill them; she was too afraid. Opening her mouth for another song, she took a breath. She knew this song would make her power increase tenfold, and the guards whom were trained in determining such a transition when in battle with a seraph initiated their attack.

“Lailah, please, run!” Alisha begged her.

It was too late. One of the guard cut a path through her flames, and without a moment to spare, he stabbed her in the side with a dagger.

Mikleo listened to Lailah’s whines and Alisha’s frantic sobbing. He heard the guards discuss something called “repurposed singing” and how Lailah was in dire need of it despite being personally owned by the royal princess. Judging from the muffled sounds coming from Alisha, they had gagged her. The next moment, everything was quiet.

He shook Sorey until he woke up. He knew that he had to rest, but given what had just happened, he was so scared that he was going to accumulate malevolence from the anxiety.

“What happened?” Sorey asked sleepily.

“L-Lailah…and A-Alisha…” Mikleo choked. He latched onto his shoulders with trembling hands.

Sorey came out of the sleepy daze quickly after fully acknowledging how distraught he looked. He hugged him tightly, burning the feeling of his shaking body into his memory. He asked him repeatedly to calm down. Each time he did, Mikleo cried more and more. He couldn’t tell him what had happened; his brain refused to recall the events that had transpired.

“Your friend saw one hell of an arrest,” a deep voice came from above.

A man of muscular build dropped from the awning. He had three tattoos—one around the bicep of his right arm, one wrapping down from his chest to his hip, and one on the bicep of left arm. All three were white, which looked blinding against his tanned skin. His long hair wasn’t as white as Mikleo’s hair but more silver with peridot ends. His rustic necklace had two large green feathers. Probably most remarkable thing about his attire besides the fact he wasn’t wearing a shirt—like some sort of exhibitionist—was that he had gun holsters strapped to his belt.

“What do you mean?” Sorey asked the mysterious man. “Mikleo, who got—was it Alisha and Lailah?! Were they taken back to Ladylake?!”

“E-Excuse you, I can answer your questions!”

“I don’t know who you are.”

“Then _ask_ for my name! Geez-Louise!”

“Well, tell me!”

“Name’s Zaveid.”

Mikleo snapped his head in his direction upon hearing his name. He began to seethe with rage; it was his fault that Alisha and Lailah were captured! Zaveid the Exile, the seraph that had escaped the clutches of humans more times than anyone could count, had cost their two friends their freedom and quite possibly their lives!

“Relax, kid. It was going to happen sooner or later.” He let out a sigh. “Where do I begin with all this?”

It wasn’t hard to remember something as horrific as the plotting of a person’s assassination. Zaveid had been captured shortly before Mikleo and Sorey had ventured outside of Elysia after foolishly trying to break into the Rountabel Palace. He had learned of Alisha’s existence, and he was particularly interested in her bond with Lailah. He had mistaken her living quarters to be in the same place as Chancellor Bartlow. Although he was looking for the owner of the Sacred Blade, he had happened to find the Shepherd’s Glove and garb. He had snuck the smaller article into his pocket because he knew there was no way that a Shepherd would be working for the man he would come to know as the Menace of Highland, but he had to leave the garb to maintain his stealth. It was then that he had heard everything from the hallway.

“To think that the Shepherd’s Glove was in a seraph village, and the last remaining one in the area, maybe even in the continent!” Chancellor Bartlow snickered. “How fortunate for us humans. Why, with the Glove, we’ll be able to crown someone to lead us to the seraphim and help us round up every last one of them.”

“Unfortunately,” his aide started, “There are reports that two survivors remained from that village.”

“What do you mean?”

“The strategist sent another battalion to do a follow-up in Elysia and found that the village chief’s door was wide open even though the previous battalion had closed it to control the fire within it.”

“Bah, that means nothing.”

The doorknob rattled, forcing Zaveid to hide behind a luxurious couch that cut a corner off in the room.

“What about the _other_ matter?” Chancellor Bartlow continued.

“I’m afraid that as long as she has Lailah with her, Princess Alisha is impervious to our attempts. Perhaps if we could study the ‘pact’ that she has formed with the seraph, we might be able to sever them by force.”

“Kill the princess and utilize her seraph for our project. I could not have thought of a better plan!”

Zaveid let out a chuckle. “After that, I just so happened to sneeze, which ended up blowing the couch well across the room and they found me,” Zaveid concluded.

Sorey couldn’t understand why the chancellor would want to kill Alisha. He wanted to head over to Ladylake right away, but Zaveid advised against it. It would have been a suicide mission. In addition to that, Mikleo would be defenseless. A fully armed battalion was more than enough to rip them apart. He pulled out the Shepherd’s Glove and placed it in Sorey’s hand.

“Why are you giving this to me?” the brunet asked.

“Eh, just call it a hunch. You two strike me as something special, and when your friend finally calms down, take him to Shurelia. If you’re really planning on doing something about that old man, you’d better make sure you have the power to take out his army.”

Zaveid leapt up to one of the broken buildings’ roof.

“Wait! Why don’t you come with us? They’re hunting for you!”

The shirtless seraph sighed. “ _iAwYE vega Aomness_lailah ag Aomness_alisha! yUzYUt naflasee!_ ” he somewhat sang. It didn’t sound as melodious as Lailah’s songs. “My Song Magic doesn’t work here, but know that the sentiment is there. I can’t go with you because winds are always changing course. You’ll do good; I know you will.”

Zaveid leapt away in the direction east of Ladylake, leaving Sorey to care for Mikleo and wonder about his role as the Shepherd in all this chaos.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> New Testament of Pastalie is a doozy, but I think I'm getting the hang of it. Right, time to study. (I purposely used an exclamation point instead of Invoking syntax since Zaveid cannot connect to Eolia; it would have been pointless.)


	7. Phase 1:  Journey to Eolia, the First Tower

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sorey and Mikleo begin their quest to save Alisha and Lailah from whatever Fate has in store for them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Replaying Zestiria (in English this time), and Mikleo is a little more independent. Whoops--kind of made him more of a clingy child, but then unlike Sorey and Mikleo resolving to go to the lower world, they were kind of forced down there. And I don't know, I see Mikleo as the jealous type (oh, wait, he IS the jealous type XD). Haven't looked at this chapter in a while, so hopefully that means I can give it a good proofread and make it a little stronger.

Sorey held Mikleo’s face until he finally relaxed enough to stand up. He wasn’t in the best condition, but he felt much better than after the Dive. Wondering if his seraph was going to be okay after witnessing something so gruesome, he played with the idea of doing another Dive before embarking on his adventure as the arbitrarily chosen Shepherd. Immediately after thinking that that was something he could do, he doubted it knowing that Mikleo would be opposed if he hadn’t fully recovered from the previous one.

“I think we should listen to Zaveid,” Sorey told him softly after a while.

“Zaveid is the reason that Alisha and Lailah were captured!” Mikleo told him.

Sorey understood the animosity, but the mysterious wind seraph had helped them by getting them the glove. If Mikleo was against going to Eolia, he was prepared to drag him there and even binding with a new seraph to babysit him in the process.

“I understand that you want to help Alisha and Lailah, but if what happened to them scared you that much, and if what Zaveid said is true, then it’s far too dangerous to go now.”

“But I have new Song Magic; we can save them!”

“Mikleo, why are you getting hysterical again?!” Sorey, the new Shepherd, grasped his shoulders. “You have to calm down. We’ve just started you on the path to becoming a stronger seraph. Those guards—they didn’t look like pushovers when we were in Ladylake, and if they caught Alisha and Lailah, then they’re definitely too strong. Please, let’s go to Eolia. We need to speak with Shurelia. She can probably help you to get stronger.”

Perhaps he was raring to fight off the guards in Ladylake because it was the first time he saw such brutality, or perhaps he wanted to prove that he was strong enough to fight them. Mikleo had no choice but to listen to Sorey. He was angry with himself for not helping them. Even when Sorey pulled him in for a reassuring hug, he clenched his fists.

But where was Eolia? Even the Celestial Record itself didn’t provide a very in-depth description of where it was exactly, which made things somewhat harder. They had a time constraint on their exploration, and who knew if they would even be able to access it?

By apparent daybreak, Sorey and Mikleo were ready to leave Kylfe with the latter wishing they had time to prepare some sort of treat. Sorey wasn’t bothered by the hungry feeling rumbling in his stomach, but it went without saying that it _was_ there.

Normally, the Great Towers were easily seen from anywhere in their governed region, but due to the darkness brought by the malevolence, it was difficult finding them in the distance. Thanks to the Celestial Record, they knew that Eolia lie east of Elysia, and Kylfe was slightly northeast from their home. Ultimately, it would take walking straight from the abandoned village to the unnamed plains in the northeast. But Mikleo was skeptical.

“You really think you know where you’re going?” he asked on the way. “Come to think of it, I didn’t even check to see if you’re okay.”

“What are you talking about? Save for the slight fever, I feel pretty good,” Sorey replied.

“Lailah said…that you could go blind.”

As they walked, Sorey shifted his eyes from the nearest objects to the farthest objects. He was somewhat disappointed to find that his vision had degenerated a little bit. He barely saw the individual leaves on close trees and bushes, but Mikleo’s image was still clear. The intricacies on his outfit were only a little fuzzy.

“I’ll be fine! Don’t worry about it, alright?”

“T-That makes me worry more!”

Mikleo clenched the Sacred Bow in his hand. He wanted to Dive again now that they were alone and far from the peanut gallery—he felt guilty for calling Alisha and Lailah that after they were arrested—but he wasn’t as excited about it as before. He felt like attempting to Dive would just be a waste of time. It seemed to him that Diving would only be worth it if there was some huge development in their story, and Diving willy-nilly put Sorey at risk for fatigue aside from binding with him and draining his body anyway.

The new Shepherd and his water seraph stayed far from Ladylake’s perimeter, only coming near when they had enough trees and brush to conceal themselves. The tradeoff, though, was the higher chance of being attacked by hellions. Both of them preferred to get to the First Tower without much a hassle. Thankfully, the only hellions in the foliage were those of the snake variety; these hellions were slow, and if the traveler walked slowly enough, then they could easily sneak by. On the other hand, the wolf hellions would give chase the minute they picked up a scent. They were too big, however, to stealthily hunt in the wooded areas.

“Hey, Mikleo, I have a question,” Sorey asked suddenly. He started walking backwards after turning around to look at him. “Seraphim are connected to the Towers, right? Can you sense when we’re near it?”

“We’re going in circles, aren’t we,” Mikleo sighed. “To answer your question, I would assume that seraphim can, on a clear day. With all the malevolence, I can barely sense you right there.”

“We’re in real trouble then. I’m starting to feel really hungry, too.”

“Should we take a break?”

“We’ve got to be close to the Tower! I can deal with this a little longer!”

Mikleo couldn’t help but smile at his human. He was trying hard, but he was worried that he wouldn’t have the energy to fight if they had to. That said, he also wanted to prove that he was capable of protecting him. It was a somewhat sullied wish, but he wanted Sorey to be thrown into some danger so he could act. Still, the occasional growl from the brunet’s stomach annoyed him. He offered to make him ice cream even when Sorey told him that he could go a little longer without food.

They trekked through the woods for a while longer; whether it was for ten minutes more or ten hours more, they had lost track of time. Their efforts weren’t wasted, however, as they came to a door the size of the goat hill in Elysia. It was covered in moss and some vines were starting to curl over its smooth iron surfaces. As they walked closer to it, Mikleo fell into a trancelike state.

“The Great Tower Eolia,” he said dazedly. He was transfixed by the size of the Tower, never once realizing that he was so tiny compared to it as it stretch far into the deep vastness of the sky. Inside Eolia, Shurelia was waiting for him. He could feel her power, her emotions, pulsating through his body

“Mikleo, are you okay?” Sorey asked.

“I have to enter Eolia.”

“I know; just hold on.” He set about to finding a way to open the door. 

There was no mechanism that held it locked that he could plainly see, so he began to wonder if it was locked via Hymmnos. With Mikleo essentially hypnotized by the Tower, he wasn’t going to find him to be helpful anytime soon. He searched the Celestial Record for any clues, and there was one albeit the text was rather faded:

_Opening the Great Towers require a specific Passcode. This Passcode is a Hymmnos Song, and within this Hymmnos Code, the Users must state their Names. The Passcode is randomly generated from within the Tower, so finding a suitable Seraph is purely up to Chance._

“Great.” Closing the book, he turned to Mikleo, who hadn’t moved from his spot. It was eerie watching him remain so motionless in front of the door to Eolia. He worried that if he didn’t open the door soon, the water seraph would either stay there for eternity or implode—both figuratively speaking. “Um, Mikleo? Do you think that new song can get us in?”

Mikleo, still trapped in the trance, processed it. He stood in front of the door, opened his mouth, and sang the new Song Magic. For some reason, though, it didn’t feel like it had any power; in fact, it was as if he was unable to recall the lyrics for it. He tried again, and again, and again until Sorey made him stop. He thought for sure that the Dive would have made the Song Magic usable.

They had hit a dead-end. Sorey pulled him from the entrance despite Mikleo’s half-hearted protests until he awoke from the trance after leaving the immediate vicinity. He had no recollection of what had happened. The Shepherd described the recent events, but it didn’t ring any bells for his dear best friend.

“You really don’t remember?” he asked him.

“What does it matter at this point? I couldn’t get us into the Tower, so what do we do now?” Mikleo asked with some frustration. Before they even got onto that topic, Sorey stopped him. “What?!”

“Relax, okay? It’s not your fault you can’t open the door.” Sorey explained to him the special oddity in the Celestial Record about the way to gain access. The fact that it was random didn’t make things better, and Mikleo grew angrier. “It’s okay; it just means that your new Song Magic is useful somewhere else.”

Sorey patted his head lovingly. The next course of business was to find a seraph that could use whatever the passcode was to get into the Tower. Searching in Ladylake was unthinkable, and it was more than likely that the seraphim being forced to work there wouldn’t want to help him solely because he was a human. They would have to look elsewhere.

“There’s got to be other places than Ladylake,” Mikleo said after he reluctantly accepted that he wasn’t the right one for the job. “What does the Celestial Record say?”

“Nothing much. The map shows there’s another village south of here. I think it’s called Marlind.”

“Do we have to go into another village? What if the people there are as bad as the ones in Ladylake?”

“It can’t hurt to check.”

Mikleo conceded, and he followed behind Sorey as they headed in the direction of their new destination. While walking, once again the water seraph offered to make ice cream to hold him over until they came to an inn where he could eat a proper meal. When his partner asked him why he kept offering, he became flustered. He was simply worried about him before admitting that he was somewhat hungry but only because he wanted to feed him. The deep-seated desire to care for Sorey subconsciously made him more humanlike than he expected. Besides, making ice cream would make him feel better.

They passed the entrance to Ladylake, the tension from the city seeping through their skin; the suffering of the seraphim made them sick because they were contributing to the malevolence pouring out of it. It was especially affecting Mikleo, for he became unstable in his walking and started pressing his palm into his head to alleviate a growing headache. Eventually Sorey picked him up and carried him, much to the seraph’s chagrin.

“I-I can walk!”

“You look like you’re going to pass out! Just let me carry you until we get to Marlind!”

“Put me down, Sorey! I…I can be independent, too, you know!”

“I want to carry you! Alisha and Lailah aren’t here!”

“W-What? That doesn’t even make sense!”

The two bickered like children. Then Mikleo disappeared in a flash of light that sank into Sorey’s chest. “M-Mikleo? Mikleo?!”

Everything was silent.

“Oh, my God, where did you go?!”

_“Sorey?”_ Mikleo’s voice came from within his mind.

“Where did you go?!”

_“I think…I’m inside of you.”_

Sorey didn’t know what to think. There were several connotations that he imagined would have been going through Alisha’s and Lailah’s heads had they witnessed this little episode, and it made him feel uncomfortable. Surprisingly, the feeling translated to Mikleo’s body, and their intertwined souls served as a conduit for the ever-increasing apprehension of this new discovery.

Lailah wasn’t there to explain, and they were left to figure this out for themselves. No other time before they had formed their pact was Mikleo physically able to condense himself into light and reside within Sorey’s body, so they conjectured that this was probably an effect of the pact. To Mikleo’s benefit, his staying inside felt refreshing, like he was ready to sleep comfortably in a soft and warm bed. Unfortunately for Sorey, it was more taxing. He felt a slight weight in his chest, but knowing that Mikleo already worried about him incessantly, telling him that would make him anxious. It was somehow lonelier as well. While he didn’t want to scare him with the physiological effect of taking him within his soul, he preferred to have him by his side than inside; the same went for Mikleo. The other strange thing was that it both had the same sensation as Diving and not Diving. Unlike how Sorey had access to Mikleo’s soul when Armatized, Mikleo could not peer into his soul’s world or lack thereof. It felt a little unfair.

Mikleo separated from his partner with an uncomfortable countenance on him. Having figured out that he could enter and exit him at will, he decided that he would only do so in the event that Sorey’s precious soul was in danger of collapsing and vice versa. In the end, the two thought it was best to keep the events of what had just happened quietly between them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No Hymmnos, but can someone answer me something? Can someone figure what Lyner says to verify himself to the Division Gate? There's no voice acting and the text is kind of small in-game, and I really want to write my own "entry code" so to speak to get in. Next chapter will be tons better. Lots of Hymmnos and stuff. Even Ar Ciela (assuming I did it correctly because THAT language. Oh boy).


	8. Phase 1:  Hymmnos at Rayfalke Spiritcrest

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After finding that the path to Marlind is blocked, Sorey and Mikleo turn to the Rayfalke Spiritcrest for a seraph to help them enter Eolia.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's finals week, but I have only one more exam! That means more chapters! :D I tried really hard to get the Ar Ciela lyrics, but with no proper grammar, it's pretty hard.

A short, narrow bridge allowed for passage from the edge of Lakehaven Heights into the territory known as Falkewin Hillside. This area was named for the large mountain range that sat between it and the previous plains. Rumor had it that there had been a dragon living on the peak for at least seven centuries, unable to find proper reprieve. Few travelers often said that they occasionally heard Hymmnos coming from the mountain, describing the voice as belonging to a lonely yet stoic young girl. Naturally, Hyland guards caught wind of the seraph that lived on the mountain, and there had been a few brash attempts to try and find her of which were fruitless due to her hiding. They rationalized that they were doing her a favor by extracting her from the dragon’s nest.

But that was neither here nor there. Sorey and Mikleo, knowledgeable about the dangers that lie in the tricky terrain of the Rayfalke Spiritcrest mountain range, knew better than to explore there without the correct supplies and equipment; of course, this didn’t mean they weren’t going to avoid it altogether. Their goal was to explore the world as well. They would get there eventually.

As they skirted around the foot of the mountain, they were surprised that there was a marked difference in the hellions in the hillside region compared to Lakehaven Heights. While the latter was populated mostly by wolf-type and snake-type hellions, Falkewin Hillside had eagle-type, marmot-type, even octopus-type hellions. The third type of hellion confused Sorey the most as far as anatomy was concerned, which tickled Mikleo. No matter how interesting it seemed, though, they still had to fight them off. Eagles and octopi were easy to anticipate, but the marmots hid underground. Presumably, they sensed when they were near them by feeling the vibrations in the earth then bored out of the ground in groups. That said, they were particularly frightened of water. So when they reached the fork in the path that led either to the Rayfalke Spiritcrest or towards the massive river that was raging and spilling over its banks from the malevolent rain that had suddenly started, they thought it would be beneficial to fight them.

“Do we really have time for this, though? We have to get to Marlind,” Mikleo somewhat scolded.

“You’ve always got to make time for two things—training and exploring,” Sorey answered. He had a confident smile on his lips.

“Of course.”

“On the bright side, you can show me what that new Song Magic does.”

“Were you just looking for an excuse to see it?”

“Maybe!”

Sorey unsheathed his sword while Mikleo summoned his staff. Eagles and octopi came at the first, which the former took care of after learning that his partner’s watery attacks had little effect on them. The marmots, however, were the true targets. When there were only a few of them left on the field, he commanded that the Song Magic be initiated and used.

Mikleo exhaled and mentally prepared himself before opening his mouth and chanting out:

_Wee ki ra 0x vvi_  
_chs hymmnos mea_  
_urr pawr mea en_  
_messe tes hes pawr mea_  
_parge pawr mea_  
_1x AAs ixi_

While nothing explicitly happened, he felt a surge of power bubble from the pit of his stomach throughout the entirety of his body. He pointed his staff at the marmots with the tip of it glowing brightly.

“Twin Flow!” he called out. 

The normally small projectile of water was much larger and sped towards them with a greater velocity—so much so that it pushed him back to the ground. The hellions were eliminated in no time, and Sorey couldn’t help but be amazed. It had been their first Dive that created such a strong spell!

He helped him up then hugged him. “That was so cool, Mikleo!” he happily told him.

Mikleo smiled, but he was visibly fatigued from using the Song Magic. Regardless, he wanted to perform some sort of gesture of doing a good job in battle like a high-five. Taking that step towards Sorey, he nearly collapsed. He touched his fingertips to the ridge of his brow.

“The Song Magic takes a lot of me,” he panted. “I don’t think I should use it that often.”

“Did you know it would do that?” Sorey asked with concern.

“N-No…this was the first time, and it made my attacks more powerful, but…I feel so weak now.”

“Then let’s rest.”

“No, we have to go. We’ve got to find a seraph that can open the gate to Eolia, and they could be in Marlind.”

Mikleo took a few steps forward only to have Sorey hold him so that he wouldn’t fall over. The two soon stumbled to the great river. The waters were raging despite there being no real exorbitant downpour of rain or any sort of marked levels of malevolence compared to the area around Ladylake at that particular moment; however, under a tree, there was a water seraph. He seemed to be in pain, writhing and clutching at his chest.

Sorey and Mikleo approached him cautiously since scaring him was the last thing they wanted to do. The seraph opened his eyes upon hearing the grass rustling around him, and he prepared to attack them.

“Come any closer, and I will kill you,” he threatened. “I’ve already got enough malevolence. I really don’t care if I turn into a hellion or a dragon or whatever. I won’t let a human touch me.”

“Wait!” Sorey begged him. “I’m a friend. We can help you.”

The seraph reissued his threat, this time his voice wavering from weakness. “I’m warning you,” he growled.

Mikleo looked to their side at the river. The waters were so rough that what was once known as Griflet Bridge had been torn to pieces. Turning back to the hostile water seraph, he asked, “Fine, we won’t do anything to you, but do you know what happened to the bridge?”

“What’s it matter to you?” the seraph retorted.

“We’re trying to get into Eolia. We need to find the seraph that has the passcode to enter it. We were going to head to Marlind and see if anyone was willing to help.”

The seraph’s expression softened. Humans couldn’t get into the Towers without a seraph, and most times the security system around the Division Gates—as he called them—would sound something like alarm that lured hellions to kill unwanted guests. The fact that Sorey wasn’t dead was an oddity, but seeing Mikleo with him and not fussing and even moving closer to the Shepherd was evidence that he wasn’t normal anyway. He looked at the hand around the young seraph’s waist.

“That’s the Shepherd’s Glove. Why do you have it?” the seraph asked.

“A seraph named Zaveid gave it to me!” Sorey happily said. Perhaps this tidbit would make the seraph feel more comfortable.

“Z-Zaveid?! You know Zaveid?! Oh, forgive me!” the seraph suddenly cried. With as much strength as he could, he bowed in front of him. “You know Zaveid the Exile, and if Zaveid chose you to be the Shepherd, then you _are_ different from regular humans.”

“Technically…Zaveid just kind of randomly gave it to the first dopey-looking human he could find,” Mikleo muttered. Sorey pinched him.

“We seraphim can peer into the heart of humans when we’re healthy. I’m sorry I couldn’t see it before. My name is Uno—I used to be the Lord of the Land for Ladylake before they kicked me out when I garnered too much malevolence.”

Uno told them everything he had gone through in the last few months. The church had started to manipulate the blessings so that they made profits instead of passing on prayers. The greed settled into Uno’s heart, and he soon began to deteriorate from the malevolence. He was thrown into the Aroundight Forest to die, but he had managed to escape. Finding solace in the river that passed under Griflet Bridge, he took refuge in the area. His hatred for humans forced him to destroy the bridge with the thought that by sectioning off humans, they couldn’t team up to catch more seraphim. Now where he sat, he was prepared to let the Virus germinating within to take his soul until Sorey and Mikleo met him.

“Uno, you can’t let hate follow you to death,” Sorey told him. “If seraphim give up, then humans like those running the church will destroy the continent.”

“So?” Uno sighed.

“Sorey wants everyone to live in peace,” Mikleo clarified. “And, as his bonded seraph, I want to see his dream come true. Please, cast aside your hatred and disgust. Don’t let the Virus kill you.”

Uno didn’t like that idea. Humans and seraphim couldn’t possibly live together in harmony, even if this was the Shepherd’s wish. The sight of Sorey and Mikleo together was increasingly making him sick. He didn’t care if Sorey was the Shepherd or not, he couldn’t believe in his dream. He remained silent.

“Fine, if you don’t want to take his advice, help us get to Marlind.”

“Why do you want to go there?”

“To find a seraph who can unlock Eolia.”

“Then good luck getting across the river.”

Mikleo was becoming angrier and angrier with Uno, but Sorey leaned to his ear whispering:

“It’s not his fault. We’ll just have to bump up exploring the Rayfalke Spiritcrest and see if the legendary seraph is there.”

Sorey simply left Uno with a bit of advice—hatred and greed and disgust only made him as bad as the people he despised. He acknowledged that he didn’t want their help, but he refused to sit idly by and watch him die. He promised him, “I’ll find a way. I will save you.”

With that, the two headed towards the Spiritcrest leaving Uno to reflect on what had been said. Before long they heard the mumbles of Hymmnos echoing through the mountains. The gusts of wind that blew over the ridges made it hard to hear what the voice was saying, but they were deeply interested. Unfortunately, though not surprisingly, there was a multitude of hellions here too. Orcs, Armadillos, Harpies stalked the winding paths to the summit where they believed the seraph singing so beautifully would be.

“How are you feeling?” Sorey asked Mikleo.

“Worse,” he answered. “There’s a great deal of malevolence here, probably from the dragon that lives here.”

“Go inside, Mikleo. I’ll be fine.”

Mikleo flicked an incredulous glance at him with red cheeks and a sheepish look in his eyes. It wasn’t too long ago that they agreed that they wouldn’t put him inside! The water seraph couldn’t bear the feelings that flooded into him when he went inside of him. The situation called for it, but he didn’t want Sorey to feel uncomfortable. Sorey wasn’t having it. He hugged Mikleo tightly, pressing his chest into his until he was forced inside.

“I don’t want you to get hurt while you’re still recovering,” the brunet said. “Besides, it’ll be easier to maneuver around the hellions if I’m not holding you up.”

 _“Then as soon as we get to the summit, let me out!”_ the seraph complained.

“Fine. But for now, just relax.”

Sorey took cover behind a boulder as he mapped out where each hellion was in his head. Darting right on up the mountain put him in danger of being attacked, and having a tired Mikleo inside his soul meant that he would feel some of that exhaustion. He couldn’t risk it.

Suddenly he heard a stampede of footsteps as an army and several seraphim came running up the path. He hid himself, tucking his body as tightly as he could behind the boulder. The knights were ordering each other about to get to the summit. The seraphim were to sing as soon as they found the seraph that lived in the mountains.

“We’ll have to seal her soul immediately. Her Song Magic is supposed to be extremely dangerous. If we could have used it against Rolance in its natural form, we’d win for sure, but it’s far too risky.”

“Wasn’t the previous seraph that lived here incredibly powerful, too?”

“Yeah, so powerful he turned into a dragon instead of a regular hellion.”

“We’ll seal his soul, too. Those Flip Songs better work.”

Sorey had heard enough. He waited for them to pass before tailing behind them. They swept the hellions aside, which gave him the opportunity to slip past them. The only problem now was that he had to get ahead of them if he wanted to protect the seraph.

 _“Sorey, let me out; I have an idea,”_ Mikleo said.

“You know a way to get us to the summit?” he asked.

Mikleo dissimilated, giving him a nod upon appearing in front of him. He looked somewhat better, but Sorey worried that he was still in no condition to be using his Artes. Of course, the water seraph didn’t pay him any mind. The knights were taking the long way up while he was prepared to make an icy staircase to the summit. One by one, he formed ice slabs coming out of the sides of the rocks and spikes. Each one consumed a bit of his power, but he was determined to make it there. Sorey watched him tire himself out before him, and he ordered him to go back inside. Mikleo refused because he wanted to help him. The malevolence, however, was taking its toll on his body.

The staircase had brought them more than halfway to the summit, and they had a far lead ahead of the knights. Sorey could spare a few minutes to see to Mikleo’s well-being. The water seraph gently pushed him away before retching and coughing up bile. Seeing his friend react that badly to the malevolence, he wanted to help him, and the only way to do that was to keep him inside.

“Sorey, if you want to help, then Dive. If you’re not going to do that, then leave me alone. I can handle this. I can get used to the malevolence,” Mikleo finally spat at him.

“You’re going to end up with a Virus,” Sorey told him sternly.

“I won’t, because I believe in your ability to keep me safe. Just…don’t put me back inside.”

“Why are you so scared to go inside?”

“I’m not scared! I want to be with you by your side, not floating around in your head!”

Voices shouted behind them. The knights drew near.

Mikleo took Sorey’s hand and pulled him along as fast as he could run to the summit. The path spiraled around a pillar before straightening into a narrow road to a large tunnel. Here, the Hymmnos carried on the air like bubbles and leaves caught in the wind.

_Was touwaka erra rre yorr coall tes mea_  
_Nn yant gaya na kil anw yor_  
_Was quel wa crushue hymmnos sos yor_  
_Wee ki ra chs hymmnos mea sos yor_

Sorey felt Mikleo’s grip falter, and at once he was prepared to force him inside again. Then he noticed that he was crying. The Song Magic made him sad, yet its audience wasn’t Mikleo or Sorey. Whoever the seraph was, she had to be singing to the dragon.

When they exited the tunnel, they found a small girl with blonde hair that gradually got darker at the ends holding an umbrella with a mascot tied to it. She wore a white sundress with flowers acting as the tie in the back. Her muddied brown boots heavily contrasted with the angelic appearance.

“Big Brother, please, you have to regain yourself,” she pleaded.

The dragon that ruled the Rayfalke Spiritcrest lay before her unmotivated to attack. She started the song again, sadder this time. The Song Magic caused the dragon to cringe in pain as if it were stabbing him in the heart.

“Eizen, please.”

Sorey and Mikleo approached her, and Eizen the dragon raised his head. They stopped for fear that it would kill all three of them. The little seraph turned around.

“Hmm? Who are you schmucks? How did you even make it to the summit?” she asked without so much as a glare. She was practically emotionless. “Hello, I asked you a question. I expect an answer.”

Even when they introduced themselves, the seraph wasn’t amused or surprised that a human and a seraph were willingly working together. She had spied the Shepherd’s Glove without reaction, and even after they told her that they were together, she didn’t care. She returned to Eizen and finished her song then walked up to them while twirling her umbrella.

“Okay, so what’re you here for? Let me guess, you want to take me back to that putrid city on the lake, or perhaps to the plague town to heal all the good-for-nothing humans,” she theorized.

“Well, not exactly,” Sorey said. He explained the problem with Eolia, and the little seraph flashed them a look of contempt.

She spun her umbrella on her shoulder before using her seraphic power to throw a small rock at Sorey’s head. “You’re a fool. Do you even know if I could access the Tower? You’re wasting your time. Get lost before I sic Eizen on you.”

Mikleo was so angry that the girl had treated Sorey with such impudent disrespect that he was ready to slap her around with his Ice Reaver Arte. The Shepherd stopped him.

“Can we at least have your name?” he asked.

“Why?” the seraph asked in return.

“Well, in case we ever meet again.”

The seraph paused for a long while before finally uttering, “Edna.”

“Edna—that’s pretty.”

Mikleo flashed him a jealous look. “Well, Edna, you should know that there are Hyland guards on their way up here with other seraphim,” he curtly said.

“Eizen will eat them.”

Edna faced Mikleo and Sorey, a particularly murderous glint in her eyes. Whether she was hoping that they would come to feed her dragon of a brother or she was absolutely confident in her brother’s ability to defend the Spiritcrest was a mystery. The Shepherd and the water seraph wanted to stay and help her in case things went awry, but the hostility in her eyes kept them at bay.

The rattling of armor echoed through the tunnel, and finally the Hyland guards arrived to seize her. The seraphim with them were in a trance, or it seemed that way. Their eyes were dull and fixed on whatever object was in front of them. The guards parted so they were all staring at Edna and Eizen. They didn’t blink or protest; they just stood there like statues.

Sorey and Mikleo tried to figure out what it was they were going to do. They recognized one of the seraphim, who had been taken from Elysia. Natalie was at the very front of the group of five seraphim. They called out her name, but she didn’t respond. She simply kept her gaze on Edna and Eizen.

The guards spotted them, and while they were mumbling amongst themselves just out of earshot about what to do about them, they were more concerned about the earth seraph and her dragon.

“Earth seraph, you are under arrest,” the captain announced to her. “You will be detained accordingly, and your dragon will be euthanized.”

Edna smirked. She fired head-sized rock after head-sized rock at the guards, avoiding the seraphim so she wouldn’t incur the effects of the malevolence on herself. Eizen stood now that he was no longer under the effects of Edna’s song. He loomed over her as he collected energy in his mouth. What sounded like Song Magic came from him, but there was something off about it. Nevertheless, he fired an attack at the guards.

Sorey pulled Mikleo inside since he was still tired out, and he took the initiative to fight off some of the guards. Perhaps showing that he was willing to fight for her would coax her into coming with them. He used Heavenly Torrent and a new Arte called Shatterfang to weaken the guards. He couldn’t kill them because they operated partly under Alisha; if he went all out, he was afraid any survivors would paint him in a different light to her.

Suddenly, the hypnotized seraphim began to sing. Their voices sounded empty compared to those of Edna and Mikleo, and their harmonies were grating to the ear. Something else was different—the language wasn’t completely Hymmnos.

_gggae dyacr hoji Paaa_  
_enls maafs bziw_  
_Tsaovie xenlm bexm RexvI_  
_Pwt fOx ciiijy ghen_

_Ma num gagis hymme so gyengyat anw yor_  
_Nn jyel gagis rre spiritum yor manafeeze innna mea_  
_Rrha yant gagis rre yorr re na parge elle morto_  
_Ma num gagis rre dor oz jouee re pat elle corpu yor_  
_Was lau wa rre yorr lurrea anw engua etealune_  
_En re gyengyat noglle innna mea_

_Oi diffod rast bbP ticosa_  
_beeez cuee yeeerzx szx jsvvee_

Sorey grasped his aching chest, covering his mouth for fear of spewing bile. Whatever cursed song the seraphim were singing, it was weakening him tenfold per minute. Not only that but he could feel Mikleo writhing inside of him, which forced him to hug himself in an effort to console him.

Edna tried to withstand the evil song, but she too was falling to it. She tried to take cover behind Eizen’s massive leg, falling to her knees when under his protection. The gigantic dragon bellowed in pain. With his last ounce of strength, he shielded Edna from the corrupted seraphim’s gazes with his scaly back to them. Shortly afterwards, he toppled over, sparing Edna from her demise.

“Big Brother? Eizen! Eizen, wake up!” Edna begged and cried.

All five of the seraphim collapsed. Their bodies were motionless; they were dead. The Hyland guards swept them up like garbage. They dragged them away, happy that they had removed the dragon from the Rayfalke Spiritcrest but also disappointed that they couldn’t capture Edna this time. They carried on, talking about Edna’s power and how she would have been useful if they had caught her to use against Rolance in the ensuing war farther west.

Edna continuously shook her draconic brother’s corpse. All the while she held back her tears. She wanted Sorey and Mikleo to leave so she could mourn his death in peace. They had other plans, however, and the Shepherd hobbled to her.

“Edna…” he uttered.

“Why did you have to come here? You brought those men with you!” she screamed at him.

“We didn’t. We didn’t know about them until we got here. We wanted to warn you, but we couldn’t even do that. I’m sorry, Edna. I’m sorry that we couldn’t protect Eizen. But even so, we beg of you, please come with us to Eolia. It’ll be safer if you stay with us. People like them won’t hurt you, I promise.”

Edna glared at him. She didn’t want to believe him; all humans were stupid and evil. Look at what was done to her brother! Yet she wanted to trust him. If Sorey hadn’t been there, the guards would have overpowered Eizen at some point, and she would have been caught.

“My brother used to be a powerful seraph. His songs were so strong and beautiful. I wanted to learn them, but a seraph can never exactly copy another seraph’s song. He wanted to teach me other ways to sing his songs, but then he turned into a dragon. A black-haired woman tried to console me when it happened.”

Edna stood up. “Fine, I’ll go with you. I want to avenge my brother. I want to bargain with Shurelia and bring him back,” she said. “Kick that other seraph out of your body so we can form our pact.”

Mikleo came out on his own to put up a fight about completely bonding with her. Sorey and Edna both countered him with the fact that if she didn’t bond with him, she wouldn’t be able to leave the Spiritcrest and go to Eolia.

To form the pact, Edna pulled out a massive gauntlet with gold and orange-yellow accents. This was her Divine Artifact. She had found it with Eizen centuries ago when exploring their home. Both she and Sorey held onto it, and after sensing either’s presence in each’s other hearts, the little earth seraph said:

“ _Rrha ki erra crannidale dea chiess ture mean._ My true name is…”

She and Sorey exchanged a chaste but reluctant kiss before she completed the incantation with her true name: _Hephsin Yulind_.

Edna’s body condensed into the same orb of light that Mikleo had turned into when he first made his pact; hers was yellow. She entered Sorey’s chest, initiating the Armatization transformation. The outfit was similar to Mikleo’s Armatization save for all blue accents being replaced with orange-yellow and the bow being replaced by her gauntlets. At once, she forced him out of the Armatus.

The earth seraph immediately rubbed her lips clean of Sorey’s pressure. She cringed at the idea that she had kissed a man she barely knew, to which Mikleo was annoyed since he believed Sorey to be the most wondrous human in the universe. The water seraph returned inside of his master followed by their new recruit. They were on a journey back to the Division Gate of Eolia. Sorey was relieved that they might have a way in, bringing them closer to the knowledge residing in Shurelia.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I tried with the Ar Ciela... That said, did you catch the Berseria allusion? :D The semester is nearing its end, so more chapters will be coming!


	9. Phase 1:  Fruitful Dive

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cosmosphere Level 1: Edna  
>  _Ma num ra chs pic wasara mea,_  
>  _en fwal syec mea._  
>  _Was yea ra chs mea yor_  
>  _en fwal en chs hymme._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay so I tried something different with the soul spaces--taking the general concept or conflict and playing around with it. This one is still loosely based on Misha's first cosmosphere level, but not quite and gives rise to a slightly different next level? Maybe?

When they reached the foot of the Rayfalke Spiritcrest, Edna handed Sorey her gauntlet. She wasn’t too thrilled at the idea of having made the pact, much less allowing a human she just met to wander around within her soul. But to see if she could use the passcode to access Eolia, she would first need him to unlock it from her heart. She also had a penchant to toy with people, and after noticing how flustered Mikleo had gotten when they formed their pact, she couldn’t help but antagonize him more.

Furthermore, the very thought of Diving in an open place like the Spiritcrest was worrisome to the water seraph. Even if he didn’t like that he now had to share Sorey with someone else—regardless how he thought of the additional seraphim—he wasn’t sure if it was a good idea to lower their guards for the hour that they were unconscious. Reluctantly, Mikleo offered to fight off hellions and guards alike should they appear while Edna and Sorey were Diving.

“I feel good enough to fight, so don’t worry,” Mikleo reassured.

Sorey still wasn’t convinced, but if they didn’t get the Dive underway, everything up to now would have been pointless. He called out Edna’s true name, and when they Armatized, both of them peeked at Mikleo, who was turning red with anger and embarrassment. He hadn’t ever seen what Sorey looked like when he was preparing to Dive, and he wished he could have been inside of him. Unfortunately for him, he was going to have to keep a watchful eye on his Shepherd dressed in the skin-tight Armatization outfit.

Sorey held the gauntlet then sat on the ground. Focusing his energy inside his bosom, he met with Edna inside his mind. Unlike with Mikleo, he was afraid to look at her.

_“Oh, stop being such a child,”_ Edna chastised. _“You better get used to seeing me naked. Clothes don’t exist in this realm since our appearance changes with each level of the soul space. Now then, let’s get this show on the road or else Lovesick-bo’s panties will twist even more.”_

_“Edna, it sounds like you’ve done this before,”_ Sorey sheepishly said.

_“My brother used to teach me about soul spaces. It’s similar to how humans learn about sexual reproduction; the more exposure you get, the less traumatizing it seems.”_

Without any further questions or analogies at the Shepherd's request, Sorey leaned into Edna, transporting to her world.

\--------------------------------------

Sorey woke up at the Stonehenge in Edna’s soul. Her world was unremarkably modelled after her home at the Spiritcrest. While Mikleo’s had been a conglomerate of traps and cages, Edna’s felt natural albeit equally as depressing as the real world. He decided to use Mikleo’s first Dive as a reference, and in doing so he waited to see who or what her mind guardian was.

“Hmm, so you’re the guy that she ultimately bonded with,” a deep voice came from behind him. A golden Normin accosted Sorey. “She could have done better. Eizen would never approve of this guy.”

Sorey sighed. “Could you hold back on the criticism? I’m here to help Edna craft some Song Magic to open Eolia’s Division Gate. Can you help, Mr. Normin?”

“That’s _Phoenix_ to you! And I already know why you’re here. You’re on your own. The Edna in this world is a little different from the one in your world. I’m not getting anywhere near her.”

Phoenix took up a spot on one of the boulders in the Stonehenge where he decided he would lounge until he was done. Sorey let out a sigh. The bright side, however, was that he wouldn’t have to witness the mind guardian abusing her; the Normin, however, didn’t seem like he wanted to abuse her like Gaine did to Mikleo. He began his ascent to the peak, where he believed Edna to be. He listened for her singing, but there was none. Instead, as he got higher and higher, he felt the air pressure in the surrounding area increasing until he had a nasty headache.

“Air Pressure!” a calm voice called out. The air pressure increased yet again. “Air Pressure!”

Eventually the pressure was so intense that he could barely move. It felt like his body was going to break underneath it, and he worried that Edna was going to inadvertently kill him within her soul space.

“Air Pressure! Air Pressure! Air Pressure!”

“E-Edna!” Sorey yelled.

Edna stopped using the Seraphic Arte. She peeked over the edge of the mountain to find that her new Shepherd was pressed against the path. She seemed contemptuous, but nonetheless she went down to offer her help by vaulting over the edge and gently floating down with her umbrella. Pulling him off the ground like a bandage, she showed no emotion seeing him.

“Why were you using your Artes? Were you training?” the brunet innocently asked.

“I guess you could say that. I was going to make a Song Magic to reduce the effects of Air Pressure,” the earth seraph explained.

“Why?”

“Idiot, the effects of that Seraphic Arte last for a while after using it. It’s cruel to the land to just leave it as it is. By restoring the air pressure to its normal state, it’s less stressful to the land and to seraphim in the area.”

Sorey was awestruck by the practicality that Edna attributed to her songs. He didn’t think that she was particularly caring for those around her, either. Then again, Edna had already expressed her hatred for humans, so the fact that she would make songs to help the Glenwood Continent and fellow seraphim really shouldn’t have come as a surprise. Still, it was nice seeing that she was concerned.

“Wipe that stupid look off your face,” she spat. Admittedly, even though he didn’t think her to be a sour person, he wasn’t sure if the disgust was exaggerated in her soul space or if she was truly like that in respect to him. “What are you here for anyway?”

After explaining to the Edna in the soul space that the Edna in the real world needed the specific passcode to enter Eolia, Sorey felt odd. It was strange talking to Edna about herself as a different person, but she didn’t care. It was normal for her or it seemed that way. He guessed that Eizen had explained the peculiarities to her some time ago.

“Hmm, it’s been a while since anyone needed to enter Eolia. The last time that happened, my late older brother was the one that had the code.”

“Oh, did Eizen pass it on to you?”

“Well, sort of. It’s too difficult for a human to understand, but it works like how birds learn songs for the most part. It doesn’t always happen either.”

Edna explained how passing on Song Magic worked when it came to things like entry codes. Normally, specific Hymmnos songs that acted as commands through the Towers were acquired through specific ores such as vermillion ore. Passcodes and the like were intuitive to certain seraphim, making the process different. For specific Hymmnos songs, the seraph wishing to learn it would have to ingest the ore. Such a process was dangerous since different types of ore had different side effects. Vermillion ore contained mercury, and taken in large quantities resulted in toxic poisoning. Passcodes had a basic grammar, but no passcode could be the same or else it would be far too easy for humans to enter the Towers and lead them to ruination. In the past, according to Edna, her brother and his human enter Frelia quite often, but approximately 700 years had passed, and in that time, the language used before fell out of use and Hymmnos became the major seraphic language. After her short lecture, Edna asked if he understood.

“You’re so knowledgeable about this!” Sorey cooed. “None of this is in the Celestial Record, so this is all new to me.”

“Yeah, well, whoever wrote that book wasn’t a seraph. Naturally they wouldn’t know about any of this.”

Edna paced around trying to remember the format of the code. Each time she tried to craft it, a new Song Magic became available. Each new song, however, was completely useless as far as entering Eolia was. She crafted songs for finding money on the ground, for finding stray Normin in the world—baffling Sorey in the process—making sweets like rock candy, and even a song for making her temporarily deaf so she wouldn’t have to listen to the imbecilic prattling of humans outside of Sorey’s immediate sphere of influence.

While all of these songs had their uses elsewhere, none of them could be used to enter Eolia. Edna thus theorized she was in an area that lacked enough mana, so she led Sorey to the summit. There she focused her power:

_Was ki ra exec hymme BYPASS=GATE >>HEPHSIN=YULIND/1x10 enter EOLIA_  
_Was yea ra chs dand_  
_Rrha ki ra 0x vvi_  
_ini yeal zeeth_  
_aterra zuieg yor_  
_enter ar tonelico_  
_1x AAs ixi_

When the chant concluded, Sorey was beside himself. He never guessed that the entry code would be that complicated. He wanted to ask so many things, yet would Edna answer him? He knew that there were certain elements that seraphim kept to themselves—he once tried to ask Mikleo how he could even remember the songs he made; the water seraph never explained it aptly enough for him to understand almost as if he was trying to hide something.

“My brother used a different format from what I remember, so I’m not sure if it’ll work. But there you go.”

“Wait, am I supposed to remember all that?”

Edna let out an exasperated sigh. “No, idiot. The real Edna will be able to use the code. If memory serves correctly, once she gives the code to Eolia, you will be asked to state who you are at some point—I don’t remember if it’s at the Gate or not. Either way, that means you’ll have to tell Shurelia that you’re the Shepherd.”

Shepherd Sorey. That was who he was now. He thanked the Edna that resided in the most superficial level of the soul space. As he prepared to leave the summit, they heard a roar echo throughout the Spiritcrest. Evidently Eizen was alive in Edna’s soul.

“What? I-I thought I sealed him away!” Edna said with trepidation. Her entire personality changed. “We have to get to the Stonehenge. He won’t attack us there!”

Edna pulled Sorey towards the Stonehenge, scaling down the mountain with no trouble. The Stonehenge was shining fiercely like a fire had ignited in the center of it. Sorey wasn’t sure if she was ready to go to the next level, or if she was forcing herself to move on. Whatever the case, he wasn’t going to leave without her.

Phoenix came from behind one of the stones near where he was sleeping. He wasn’t afraid. More like, he was evaluating her. She didn’t seem to notice his intense glare.

“I’m sorry, Sorey,” Edna apologized sternly.

“For what?” Sorey asked her.

“You’re not ready for what lies in my soul space. The Eizen here is closer to what he truly was compared to the real world. I know this isn’t safe, but I’ll grant you permission to go to the next level.”

“But you haven’t learned anything new!”

Edna was mumbling to herself, “Did I break the seal by making that code?” She looked up at him. “How’s this? I learned that I am a fool. I should have been more careful making the code so that I didn’t reawaken him.”

“Will your soul space be okay?”

“I think so. Real damage only happens if it occurs at lower levels. Now, go on to the next level before things get really bad here!”

Light engulfed everything as Edna opened the path to the next level in her soul space with a Paradigm Shift. She disappeared, transforming into specks of light while Sorey’s soul was transported out of her. He had gained access to the second level, but it didn’t feel like he was moving on. Instead it felt like Phoenix was ushering him out of her most likely for his safety. Sorey wasn’t happy that he wouldn’t be able to talk with her until they had some privacy, but he was concerned for her mental well-being.

\--------------------------------------

Sorey opened his eyes to find that Edna had already separated from him. She was just as emotionless as she was before the Dive. He wanted to talk to her about what had happened in her soul space, but with Mikleo sitting right next to them, he had to decide on a later time. The most important thing now was to make sure that the little earth seraph had definitely learned the passcode, and to do that, they would need to hurry to Eolia. They were only moments away from meeting Shurelia and asking for her bountiful knowledge on seraphim and Hymmnos. If anything, Mikleo was bound to become a powerful seraph.

Mikleo, though, was nervous about what the Dive into Edna had produced. It wasn’t necessarily about the passcode but the potential for Sorey to have learned more about her than about him. Knowing he couldn’t ask what had happened in Edna’s soul space, he obediently swallowed the anxiety.

“Are we ready to go?” he asked. He held back his request to Dive.

“Yeah, it’s time we get into Eolia,” Sorey determinedly said.

With the new bond to Edna, it was only natural to see that she could assimilate into her new Shepherd. There was no hesitation since she wasn’t particularly fond of walking behind them or in front of them down the side of a mountain. The Dive had also tired her out, and without permission from Sorey, she went inside to recuperate. Mikleo was about to protest, but Sorey told him to relax. He preferred that they were alone. It meant that they could talk to one another about what was to come—even though Edna still had access to those same thoughts and the same stimuli around him.

When they had reached the threshold of the path leading to the Rayfalke Spiritcrest and ventured out to the riverbank, they stopped. By the tree where Uno had been sitting was instead a serpent-type hellion called an Ouroboros; the water seraph had given into the malevolence. Sorey couldn’t believe his eyes.

_“What are you going to do about this one?”_ Edna asked from within his soul. _“You can’t leave him like that or else he’ll kill travelers. If you try to purify him, you’ll have to kill him.”_

It was a difficult choice, but Sorey had to decide. He drew his ceremonial sword with tears welling in his eyes at the sight of what a potential ally had become. The Shepherd was supposed to help people, he figured. But how could he do that when he couldn’t prevent a seraph from succumbing to his hatred and becoming a hellion?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is probably going to end up darker than both stories... And I've modified some AT concepts to fit Zestiria a little better. I like how it turned out! :D And since I can't tell what Lyner says to get into Eolia in AT1, I followed Luca's EXEC_VIENA/. opening format for the code.


	10. Phase 1: A Difficult Path to Knowledge

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With Edna's help, Sorey and Mikleo are finally able to get into Eolia.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I took a few days to read this chapter, and the writing is a little sub-par according to how I typically write, but hey, this is where characters meet characters! And by that we meet Shurelia.

Mikleo summoned his staff and prepared to protect his dear Shepherd. He silently criticized Edna for not joining the fray, but Edna had other plans. She wanted to see how well Sorey would handle not being able to save everyone. He had already shown some disappointment in himself for not being able to save Eizen, but that was different. There was never any hope to really save a dragon; Edna was aware of that herself even though she tried to deny it. Before Sorey, however, wasn’t a dragon but a regular hellion. Did he have enough power to make sure that Uno would survive?

Sorey charged toward the Ouroboros with his sword ready to pierce its heart despite it being too dull to break through its scales. He didn’t want to hurt Uno. Mikleo shot icy projectiles, hoping that they would be enough to break through and prevent it from moving. The hellion turned its attention away from Sorey. It undulated toward Mikleo. Once it was close enough, it spewed some sort of acid at him that burned through his a piece of his clothing.

“Ice Reaver!” Mikleo shouted as two slabs of ice appeared from underneath it. They sandwiched the monster for a brief second. It was enough time for Sorey to use his Shatterfang attack.

While their teamwork was impeccable, Edna was dubious that it would be enough. She wanted to wait for a moment longer, but if she waited too long, someone would get injured. As the Ouroboros again charged at Sorey, she dissimilated from him. She knew it was a risky move since such an action temporarily hindered the human body in all aspects. When she left him, Sorey was a prime target, and as such, he was pummeled into the ground by the hellion’s whip-like tail.

Edna put a large amount of distance between her and the hellion. She commanded Mikleo to heal Sorey as quickly as possible. Seraphic Artes that fell into the rejuvenation class for some reason always attracted wicked beings, so they served as a good diversion and they were executed in little time.  
She opened her umbrella, twirling it on her shoulder as she sang:

_Rrha ki wa yerwe pawr mea en_  
_zarle how papana_  
_Rrha ki wa rre mea pawr valwa yor_

She glowed brightly as she aimed the tip of her umbrella in the direction of the monster. A large spike of rock rocketed from the ground under the hellion just before it hit Mikleo with its tail. The Ouroboros went limp, dangling on the rock in front of the water seraph as its evil body dissipated to reveal Uno’s lifeless corpse.

“Y-You killed him!” Mikleo gasped.

“You’re surprised?” Edna sighed. “Once a seraph turns into a hellion or a dragon, it’s over for them unless you have the power of purification. I only know of one seraph that does in this day and age, and last time I heard, she was working for the humans.”

Sorey held back the urge to vomit. He then pulled Uno off of the rock. Not sure of what to do, he considered burying him under the tree they had met him. Within a minute or two, however, his body disappeared into specks of light.

“I thought hellions were born only from non-seraphic individuals, and seraphim could only turn into dragons,” Sorey dejectedly said while looking down at his hands covered in Uno’s blood. “Does that mean that seraphim don’t have to become dragons?”

“Seraphim only become dragons when they extremely powerful. That seraph probably wasn’t strong enough to become one, but his body clearly couldn’t handle anymore malevolence. Either way, he’s dead now and for the better. Seraphim suffer endlessly; this was probably for the best.”

Mikleo gripped Sorey’s shoulder after walking up behind him to heal him once more for good measure. Part of him was scared that that was also a possible ending for their kind. He believed in Sorey yet couldn’t shake off that feeling.

\----------------------------------------

Sorey led the way back to Eolia with Edna and Mikleo tagging along behind. The two seraphim had been silent for a while since they wanted to let Sorey grieve for Uno in peace. As they walked, Mikleo reflected on what had happened, and he remembered something that Zenrus had warned him of:

“Water is particularly susceptible to the malevolence, Mikleo. Be careful to never let your doubt get the better of you. Sorey needs you and you need Sorey, so if you are worried about something, place your trust in him, and things will be okay.”

“I wonder if Sorey is worried that that might happen to me,” Mikleo asked himself.

“Maybe; you two are so close, it’s actually nauseating,” Edna retorted.

“I wasn’t asking you!”

The trio walked through the woods east of Ladylake where the entrance to Eolia resided. There were more hellions in the area, which they tried as hard as they could to avoid them. With the realization that the hellions were still essentially people and animals, watching them die completely and destroying the corrupted soul inside of them made Sorey sick. But what Edna had said rang in his ears.

Death was salvation.

But so was purification and the Shepherd was supposed to have that power, according to the legends. Edna, however, said that only the seraph working for humans had that power. He didn’t want to kill them or at least desecrate their corpses, but he couldn’t purify them either.

As they walked, Mikleo and Edna fell into a trance-like state. They passed Sorey, walking briskly to the Division Gate. Whatever hellions tried to attack them, they killed them without blinking an eye. Edna used Rock Lance while Mikleo used the water variant Ice Lancer. It was like they were completely different people, and Sorey couldn’t help but wonder if perhaps Shurelia was the one turning them into killing machines. Maybe they were fulfilling an unspoken task that was to defend the Tower from hellions and Viruses.

One of the wolf hellions managed to break through their defenses, biting Edna’s arm with a vice-like grip. The earth seraph didn’t react; she just stayed where she was. Mikleo came from behind her and shot the hellion with Aqua Serpent. When all of the attacking monsters were dead, Sorey cautiously approached them with a couple of apple gels to help with their wounds. They were still unresponsive to his voice.

“We’re almost there,” Mikleo droned.

Sorey was scared to try talking to him after that. It wasn’t that he seemed like he had lost his soul; the tone was just eerie. After witnessing just how brutal he could be, what if he said something to him that would initiate some sort of attack?

Edna took the lead in front of Mikleo, who served as her bodyguard from behind. It was apparently paramount to him now that she got to the Division Gate safely. After all, she was the one with the passcode.

Once they arrived, Edna stood before the tall iron doors that were the Division Gate that faced out into Lakehaven Heights. Sorey had worried implicitly that the knights that had killed Eizen would be waiting for them there, and he was surprised to find it clear. Still, he was on edge that there was going to be an ambush.

“Mikleo, we’ve got to protect Edna while she unlocks the Gate, got it?” Sorey asked his water seraph.

Mikleo simply raised his staff in front of his chest, prepared to fight.

Edna took a deep breath. As the Tower commanded, she focused as hard as she could on the Gate. She projected her voice, singing in Hymmnos to activate it:

_Was ki ra exec hymme BYPASS=GATE >>HEPHSIN=YULIND/1x10 enter EOLIA_  
_Was yea ra chs dand_  
_Rrha ki ra 0x vvi_  
_ini yeal zeeth_  
_aterra zuieg yor_  
_enter ar tonelico_  
_1x AAs ixi_

The Division Gate hissed, steam escaping from the crevice that opened slowly to reveal the interior to Eolia and the destruction that had been happening. Hellions were running amok within the Tower, as if they had been breaking in through holes in the wall. Mikleo and Edna came out of their trance just in time to deflect one of them from attacking the former.

“Hellions?! How did they get in?!” Mikleo questioned.

“It doesn’t matter! We’ve got to get to Shurelia before the malevolence from them can infect her!” Edna growled. “Sorey, we’ll keep them busy! Go on ahead to Shurelia!”

Sorey hesitated for a moment. Edna was still somewhat hurt from before, and Mikleo still wasn’t quite strong enough to fight off an entire horde by himself. He gave a silent prayer to his water seraph, promising that he would Dive into him as soon as he could after their meeting with Shurelia. The Shepherd dashed past them after they engaged a number of hellions at the Gate. The Gate itself rumbled shut and locked once again to keep human intruders out.

The brunet panted as he recovered from the sudden bolt to the first staircase he could find. He peered up the spiraling platforms that were the stairs. They led up infinitely, and he began to wonder just where in the Tower Shurelia would be and exactly how far he would have to go.

“Guess there’s no way to tell without a seraph,” he sighed. “I just hope that Mikleo and Edna can make it up here safely.”

He began his ascent. He wasn’t sure where he needed to stop, but hopefully the power of the Shepherd would resonate with her soul. The idea of stopping off at each level of the Tower was enticing as well because the Celestial Record had little to no detail about Eolia from the inside. The author presumably never got the chance. No, he had to control himself. He didn’t have time to dillydally.

After hours and hours of climbing, Sorey eventually learned that the Glenwood Continent was called the Terraced Fields. It seemed fitting, or perhaps it used to when the world was green. He passed the inaccessible Wings of Horus, the Silvaplate, Em Pheyna, the Silver Horn—all the way up until he felt something in his core. It was a familiar sensation, and he wondered if it belonged to Mikleo or Edna or even Shurelia despite its familiarity.

“S-Sorey! S-Stop walking!” Mikleo’s voice called from far below.

Sorey whipped around to see his seraphim walking up the stairs particularly winded. Their figures were blurred, but as they drew nearer, Sorey spotted small red stains. He panicked, running to them and making sure they weren’t mortally wounded.

“Most of this isn’t ours, genius,” Edna flatly insulted. “Do you really think we’re that weak?”

“Sorry, I just don’t want to see you guys getting hurt, not after seeing what they’ve been doing in Ladylake,” Sorey said. He glanced at Mikleo.

“Anyway, we’re almost there. I can feel it.”

“I can feel another hellion coming this way, too,” Mikleo said.

The Shepherd and his seraphim prepared for whatever was charging towards them. As Mikleo had predicted, a wolf hellion that was much larger than the others they had seen was after them. The malevolence coming from it surged through Sorey, making him feel nauseous. Debilitated, he fell to his knees with his hand over his mouth. It was the hellion’s tactic; it sent out waves of malevolence to paralyze its prey before lunging at its neck.

“Aqua Serpent!” Mikleo cried out. He swatted the hellion away from Sorey with a blast of water. Even though it wasn’t enough to dispatch it, he was glad he could protect him.

Edna used Air Pressure to pin it to the stair it had fallen on. She ordered Sorey to get up, and while he still felt sick, he was able to finish it off. In doing so, another surge of malevolence hit him in his abdomen. He winced, which forced Mikleo to use a large portion of his energy to heal him.

“If hellions like this are running around in Eolia…” Sorey coughed. He pushed himself up from the floor. “Then Shurelia is in some serious danger.”

“Don’t underestimate her. She’s considered an Origin; our power is nothing compared to hers,” Edna said.

Mikleo allowed Sorey to lean on him as they climbed to the Symphonic Reactor, where Edna sensed the Tower’s administrator. As they approached its main chamber, they felt the most of the malevolence they had ever experienced since Eizen’s domain. Behind its doors, Shurelia’s voice tirelessly sang to contain the hellions within the room.

“We’ve got to help her!” Sorey frantically said. “If any more hellions like the one we just fought are in there, she’ll be mauled!”

He left Mikleo’s side despite his protests. He gripped the door handle, and suddenly everything went white. Shurelia’s voice echoed in his ears. It felt like he had been transported to a new land devoid of the wickedness plaguing their world.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's hard to imagine the Towers in Zestiria's world...


	11. Phase 1:  Shurelia, Administrator of the First Tower

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sorey finally meets the first of the three Origin Reyvateil. After asking her some questions, he prepares to help her fight against the hellions invading Eolia

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Short chapter, but this chapter made me want to try writing a one shot completely in Hymmnos. Am I going to? Probably not. That said, I think it's getting easier to mix the plots~

_Akata ini. Sol sheak keen en ciel chs briyua. Faura yerwe en famfa ween clare sar. Has koffl elle celle fluy. Has murfan infel mea. Cietta pauwel mea nozess pawr van aura famfa en murfan warce._

_Was quel ra rre mean nedle lir._   
_Was granme erra neia anw walasye oz ieeya._   
_Was yea ra sarrifis hyzik mea sos teyys deleir._

_Wee touwaka wa rre yor pagle Manac anw mea._

Shurelia’s voice was clear in his head, and despite not understanding Hymmnos, Sorey felt strangely familiar with its syntax enough to answer her. He didn’t know what his true name was or if humans even got them outside of the realm of the Shepherd’s duties of assigning them. Looking deep within his heart, he found the courage to speak with the administrator of the First Tower.

“I am Shepherd Sorey,” he said.

The sanctuary that was wherever he had gone gradually vanished as he regained his bearings within Eolia’s Symphonic Reactor. The malevolence that had been contained within the room had been quelled, yet he couldn’t sense Mikleo and Edna’s presences.

“I believe your seraphic friends are taking a rest nearby,” Shurelia said. She wore an extravagant pearl-white armor that masked her face; she was only slightly taller than Edna. “The water seraph panicked after seeing you step into my immediate domain. That in itself was reckless, and I’m not sure if you came out of that unscathed.”

Sorey sheepishly bowed in front of her. When he stood straight again, he reflexively continued to scan the large room for his friends. He told himself that they were most likely fine, especially if Shurelia had said so. He took a breath to calm his excited heart. He finally got to meet her!

“L-Lady Shurelia, I come with more questions than you can anticipate,” he said with some hesitation. It wasn’t every day he got to speak with one of the most powerful beings in the world, and somehow he felt like she couldn’t even be classified as a seraph. “First, I want to address you appropriately, so what are you?”

“That’s a rather bold question!” she smiled. “I am a special seraph called a Reyvateil, who can only create and use Song Magic. There are only three of us in the world—one residing in each of the Towers. Next question.”

Sorey was shocked that her answer was so short, but he figured that maybe the feeling of urgency was still in her from before. He asked her where the malevolence was coming from. Shurelia couldn’t provide a very detailed hypothesis; however, the rise in malevolence and Viruses and hellions seemed to be stemmed deep in the history of the enslavement of seraphim. She admitted that since the beginning when seraphim were first poached, she had walled herself off from humans to prevent their malevolence from corrupting her. She had neglected the outside world. But she was not at fault for the overrunning wickedness. It was humans—Sorey’s kind—and their disregard for the balance of nature. There were other aspects to the malevolence that had yet to be discovered according to her.

“I want to save the seraphim,” Sorey told her. “It hurts seeing them suffer like this.”

“I’m afraid I can’t tell you what to do,” Shurelia responded. She averted her gaze. “Simply uprooting them from their hellish lives isn’t enough, but eradicating humans along with the malevolence is genocide far too expansive and equally as bad.”

“I don’t want anyone to suffer.”

“I’m sorry.”

The Shepherd reluctantly accepted what Shurelia had said. He didn’t think that killing one people or the other was going to solve the problem. He came up with an idea—helping people with their hardships instead of letting them use the seraphim for their needs. Shurelia wasn’t sure if that would help, but she could imagine it would be extremely taxing. Sorey had already bonded to two seraphim and looked like he had gone through all sorts of hardships. If he were to bond with any more seraphim, he would surely be too tired to function as a healthy and normal human being. The strain would probably even put him on the edge of death.

“I’ll think of something. I have one more question.”

“Go ahead.”

Sorey searched for the right words to voice his concern about Mikleo’s inability to use Song Magic. He had only recently learned how to craft them from within his soul, but other than strengthening his attacks, he couldn’t make ones like Edna that had effects on the environment or could be used for combat. Mikleo used to say he felt disconnected from Shurelia, preventing him from making spells that would otherwise turn the tides of battles. If he couldn’t sing like other seraphim, what was his purpose for existing?

“It sounds to be an issue within himself,” Shurelia said. “Perhaps his own doubts are preventing him from reaching his full potential; though, I must admit he seems different from other seraphim that connect to the Tower in this region. Are you aware of Diving? That might help him get over whatever is bothering him.”

Diving only helped so much. It wasn’t guaranteed that each successful Dive would produce Song Magic either. Sorey had often entertained the idea that Mikleo probably was more skilled in Seraphic Artes than Song Magic, and that was certainly a possibility. Still, it crushed the water seraph to believe that his inability to sing would essentially hinder Sorey’s progress. Of course, Sorey knew better than to tell all of this to Shurelia when she herself wasn’t sure what to do.

Shurelia consequently apologized for not knowing how to solve the problem. It had been centuries since she last had any connection or encounters with the outside world save for verifying Song Magic processed in the Tower.

“Perhaps you should try to Dive with him now,” she suggested, trying her best to provide some answer. “Diving within the Tower is incredibly dangerous, but you can go just outside the domain if something comes up and you want to ask about it with him.”

“It’s an idea.”

Sorey thanked her for at least seeing him, and while Shurelia felt guilty for not being able to offer any sort of useful information, she was glad she got to meet the new Shepherd. It instilled a sense of hope. After extending to him an offering of her services, Sorey bade her farewell. As he turned around and took a step towards the exit of the Symphonic Reactor’s room, a hellion materialized. It was a spectral sort made of pure malevolence. It was on the weaker side but still a nuisance.

“Vile creatures, how dare you continue to intrude on my Tower!” Shurelia threatened.

Sorey immediate rushed into battle with her. He didn’t know how to fight alongside a Reyvateil, but he imagined it was just like fighting with seraphim. He had mistaken. The hellion sidestepped, charging towards the ivory administrator at top speed. Chasing after it, he used Heavenly Torrent to temporarily stun it. Shurelia used a combative song to help finish off the hellion. The specter dissipated into darkness, its attack leaving Shurelia and Sorey a little more winded than they had expected.

“How are they getting in?” Sorey panted.

“I’m not sure,” Shurelia replied. She began mumbling to herself, “Could it be that she’s trying to escape? Is there someone that she can manipulate as she sees fit?”

“Shurelia?”

Mikleo and Edna dashed in after hearing the sounds of battle, and the former helped his partner up. He cursed himself for not staying with him. Edna, on the other hand, was more concerned about the Symphonic Reactor and why it was a hellion lure. Hellions attacked sources of purity, but the Tower was supposed to be well-protected in itself.

“Seems like you’ve got a bug problem,” she stated. “And for a place that looks ahead of its time, that’s kind of strange.”

“Perhaps,” Shurelia sighed. “The Towers were created with technology that far surpasses human understanding—even seraphim might not understand. All that you see around you was created solely for my use in connecting with the seraphim.”

She turned to Sorey. She wanted to teach him how to properly fight with a Reyvateil even though the chances of him having to fight alongside her again were slim at best. She would have liked to join him, but until the intrusions were stopped, she was bound to her Tower.

Mikleo inspected Sorey for any damage, somewhat irritated that he didn’t find anything too worrying because he wanted to help him. When Sorey told him what Shurelia had said about Diving, however, he lit up like the sun on a clear day.

“Well, let’s go Dive then!” he urged. “It’s been a while, and…you know, Shurelia said it would help!”

“I’ve never heard of a seraph being this excited to Dive,” Shurelia murmured curiously. “Then again, maybe this is because I’ve been isolated.”

“No, Mikleo just has a huge thing for Sorey,” Edna told her. “Honestly, it’s pretty annoying and gross.”

Sorey and Mikleo pretended not to hear what was being said about them. They had already expressed their ideas about each other to Lailah and Alisha on separate occasions, and it still haunted them that they had gotten so excited about their relationship. The latter, however, was waiting for the best time to finally confess the love he had developed over the seventeen years.

Mikleo looked back at Edna. “Hey, Edna, would you mind keeping Lady Shurelia company?” he nervously asked.

“Why, because you’re embarrassed when Sorey Dives into you and others are around? Fat chance,” she blatantly told him. Shurelia lightly scolded her for the comment. “Fine, but make it quick. I assume we’ve got other business to attend to.”

Sorey wanted to go to Marlind as originally planned when he came up with the idea of trying to help people solve their problems and rely on the seraphim less. Marlind, the plague town, was surely bound to be grateful for the Shepherd’s help, and whatever seraphim were there were going to be happy to escape their chains. He took up Mikleo’s hand, ushering him down and outside the Tower. Edna was strong, and he believed that if any more hellions did break into of Eolia, then she would be more than enough to help its administrator.

The two found a clearing behind the Tower, but before they could get started, Mikleo wanted to talk with Sorey. He wanted to know what Shurelia had said about his inability to sing. Sorey couldn’t look him in those violet eyes while telling him what he had heard. She had said that something about him was different, but what? She didn’t have any answers as he had hoped. Sorey cupped Mikleo’s face in his hands, pressing his forehead into his then apologized.

“Why are you apologizing?” Mikleo asked just above a whisper.

“I thought we could get answers from Shurelia, but she didn’t know why you can’t really sing either,” Sorey told him even softer. “I’m sorry that I got our hopes up. I really wanted to help you.”

Mikleo touched his partner’s hands as he closed his eyes and enjoyed the feeling of his callused fingers on his cheeks. He lovingly said, “It’s fine. It makes me happy that you’re trying to help me.” He looked up at him with sparkling eyes and a beaming smile. “Let’s get started, shall we?”

They Armatized together, and once inside Sorey’s soul, Mikleo gave him a grateful hug. Entering the water seraph’s soul space, Sorey prepared for what was waiting for him. Above everything else, he hoped that he didn’t have to see him being abused.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Merry Christmas!
> 
> Okay, so Reyvateils in this are a special kind of seraph that can only use Song Magic (because trying to make the Origins seraphim themselves would be weird).


	12. Phase 1: Threat of the Dragon

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cosmosphere Level 2: Mikleo  
>  _Ma num ra chs pic wasara mea,_  
>  _en fwal syec mea._  
>  _Was yea ra chs mea yor_  
>  _en fwal en chs hymme._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So Aurica's second cosmosphere level fit perfectly with Zestiria because DRAGONS. And not to mention that Mikleo's irritation that he has to share Sorey with Edna now--I really liked this chapter.

“Oh, things are different now,” Sorey noticed upon his arrival into the second level of Mikleo’s soul space.

The dark world filled with chains and cages and the overseeing gem was gone, replaced by a perfect replica of Elysia covered in snow. The borders of the world looked similar to the pikes and spikes of the Rayfalke Spiritcrest, which confused the Shepherd. Why would such a place, as temporary as it was, make such a remarkable transformation in his soul? Immediately he began to wonder if the encounter with Eizen had scarred him. Mikleo had always been somewhat afraid of becoming infected with a Virus and turning into either a hellion or dragon. The water seraph, though, was now learning how to swallow the anxiety and push on, so in a way, it made sense.

Sorey glanced around the Stonehenge looking for Gaine. The little Normin was calmly sitting on a stone sipping what appeared to be a special blend of tea. It was eerily silent and smiling as if it had done something. He scrutinized it. He formed the questions he planned on asking about Mikleo’s well-being and his whereabouts. Gaine just nonchalantly said:

“I have no involvement with what happens on this level. Ever since that hike up to the Spiritcrest, your little water seraph has been acting funny. He even made a Song Magic to produce snow that never melts, and then he made a snowman that looks an awful lot like you.”

“He created another song?” Sorey incredulously asked. “That’s great! Maybe he can use it for battle!”

“It’s useless; it has no combative qualities—just a waste of effort and time. Great for cold desserts, though.”

Sorey held his tongue. Any offenses to Gaine might get him in trouble which would result in him being kicked out of Mikleo’s soul and a wasted opportunity to help the seraph grow. He simply told it that he was off to find him, and while he had unintentionally spoken with an edge, he didn’t necessarily think it was wrong to show that he wasn’t too pleased with it.

He descended down to the Elysia replica where no one from their village was currently living. In the center of the empty village was the aforementioned snow-Sorey, complete with a dark blue shirt and dried leaves to look like his hair. Rocks painted green represented his eyes. He felt flattered that Mikleo had put so much work into the creation. It seemed strange, though. He didn’t remember him having a habit of making inanimate objects and attributing a human personality to it. Could it be because he was isolated in this world?

Mikleo exited Zenrus’s house up on the hill. He was particularly happy to see his snowman in the distance, and Sorey thought it would be enlightening to observe his behavior. He hid behind a house, watching from afar what this version of his seraph was like.

“Good morning, Sorey!” Mikleo chirped. He fixed the shirt then went about adding more leaves that he had collected to his head. “Do you think that dragon will come back today? I really hope not. Last time, I almost got fried, and that mean earth seraph was with it.”

The Shepherd was only slightly concerned for his friend. He understood that maybe talking to inanimate objects like they were other people probably helped Mikleo deal with the isolation, but the sight of him attending to it like a doll was almost…unnerving. Not to mention, he seemed to be talking to it like it was a child. He came out of hiding, approaching him from behind. He lightly tapped his shoulder.

“A-An intruder?” Mikleo panicked. He spun around with his staff summoned and ready to attack him. His violet eyes met Sorey’s emerald ones. “No way…” He dropped his staff and felt his face. He stretched the corners of his mouth before asking, “Are you really here?”

“Sure am!” Sorey lisped as his dearest friend kept inspecting him to make sure that his body obeyed the laws of physics. Mikleo took a step back. “What’s wrong?”

“N-Nothing! I thought…I thought you had run away from me. You weren’t here for ages, so I made this effigy from snow—ah, wait, no! Don’t look!”

Mikleo scrambled to hide the snowman, but Sorey just laughed as he patted his head. He expressed his happiness with a warm smile. The water seraph pulled away again, clearing his throat without really saying much of anything. He couldn’t believe that Sorey, who had apparently been gone for a long while, was back in the flesh to see him. He hadn’t prepared for any visitors, much less him.

“Perhaps this is an omen,” Mikleo suddenly mumbled. “That dragon is going to come here again, isn’t it? It has to since you’re here.”

“Are you talking about Eizen? He wasn’t a bad dragon.”

Mikleo flashed him a dubious glare. He tended to the snowman. “Of course, you haven’t been here for a while. I’ve missed you and waited for you, but your arrival can only mean that Eizen will definitely destroy the village.” He finished taking care of his effigy then turned back to him. “As much as I love you, Sorey, please go away. I don’t want to think about the end.”

Sorey was more than confused. He grabbed Mikleo’s wrists before begging him to tell him what had happened. According to the water seraph, he had disappeared one day after an earth seraph—Edna—had shown up. She demanded that she have a human to keep her company, and since Sorey was the only human that Mikleo knew, loved, and trusted; he refused to do as she demanded. She threatened to burn the whole village down, and even though there weren’t any other seraphim besides Mikleo, he was terrified. Thus, he reluctantly handed Sorey to her all dressed up in ceremonial clothes like an expensive doll. Despite receiving the human in exchange for peace, Edna sent her dragon Eizen to terrorize him. The stress and paranoia that came with a dragon constantly circling above led to the conception of the snow effigy.

“I’d forgotten how much time had passed. You were only a small child when I had to turn you over to her,” Mikleo said. “You’ve really…grown up.”

Sorey just kept getting more and more lost in the story of the second level. The biggest thing now was his competition with Edna. He knew that this was caused by the pact he formed with her, but did Mikleo really feel that she just swooped him and plucked him from his home? No amount of reasoning with him would get him to snap out of that state of mind, but maybe trying to talk to Edna and Eizen would help him move on.

“You can’t mean that! I would never discuss things with her!” Mikleo protested.

“You’re going to have to! Edna isn’t what you think she is!” Sorey fought back.

“I refuse!”

“You’re going!”

“God, you are such a loser,” Edna insulted from atop Eizen’s head; the dragon had arrived. “I’ll have to fry you for being so dumb.”

Eizen gathered energy in his mouth then released it unto the village. The houses were overflowing with flames and smoke billowed from the windows. All of the grass and flowers that Mikleo had worked so hard to keep alive despite the snow were reduced to ashes. The snowman remained unscathed.

“E-Edna!” Sorey called out to the earth seraph. “What are you doing?!”

“Silence, fool!”

Eizen launched fire ball after fire ball at the snowman, but it wouldn’t melt. Edna scoffed. She reiterated her threat to Mikleo. Sorey had run away from her, and now she was carrying out her punishment. The water seraph fell to his knees, heartbroken that his home was nothing more than a burnt crisp. After Edna and Eizen flew to the recesses of the Rayfalke Spiritcrest feeling quite proud, Sorey went to work trying to control the flames. If they got out of hand and spread throughout the soul space, the entirety of the second level would be destroyed, and he didn’t want to think what would happen to Mikleo in the real world if that were to happen.

“Mikleo, you can cry later! Elysia’s in danger!” Sorey urged him. Mikleo just sat there frozen in place. “Damn it, why now?”

Gaine bounced to Elysia, putting out the flames when it could. He asked what had happened. Once Sorey explained, it only laughed at his and Mikleo’s misfortune.

“That must really suck for you, but can’t say I’m surprised! This kid has been useless since he made that deal with Edna the Rock Princess!” he snickered.

Sorey grabbed Gaine up by its beret. “Is this really the time to make fun of us? Mikleo’s soul is in danger! If this place goes down, so the does the first level and you! Help us!”

Gaine wiggled free. He grumbled a bit under his breath then told him that in the soul space, if emotions ran high enough, Armatization was possible for a short period. With Mikleo’s Armatus, they would be able to put the fires out quickly enough. Time permitting; they could even get to where Edna lived in a few minutes. The only problem with that plan was getting Mikleo in such a state that he would even consider trying to save himself.

Sorey used Heavenly Torrent as many times as his body could withstand its power to douse the fires around him. Sliding to Mikleo’s side and gripping his shoulders, he shook him vigorously.

“Mikleo, snap out of it! I need your help to save Elysia, please!” he pleaded.

“You guys need to hurry!” Gaine added. “I can feel a breakdown on its way!”

“What do I need to do to get you to move?”

Sorey roughly pulled Mikleo into his arms. His eyes were shut tightly, and he prayed with all his heart that Mikleo would acknowledge that he was there with him even if he was an omen. Now wasn’t the time to be moping; they needed to work together.

“ _Luzrov Rulay!_ ” Sorey called out.

Mikleo seemed to faint in his arms, but he turned into the orb of light that he had first transformed into when they initiated their pact. Sorey donned the Water Armatus, yet he felt tired and sick. That must have been how Mikleo was feeling.

“Arrow Rain!” they called out together, albeit that Mikleo was only barely audible.

Sorey shot an arrow into the smoky sky above, which pierced through to the light of day. A rain shower fell over Elysia, effectively saving the village from complete destruction while adding to the blanket of snow already there. With no time to spare but glad that Mikleo was moving with him, the Shepherd rushed to the Rayfalke Spiritcrest, leaving disgruntled Gaine to tidy up. The snowman was still unharmed.

Just as they found Edna’s throne of stone, Mikleo dissimilated from his friend. The Armatus disappeared, and he was left feeling drained from both the experience and using his power to its full potential. Sorey picked him up. There were no protests, worrying him because Mikleo hated to be carried—especially liked a princess.

Sorey climbed the stairs to Edna’s throne, sternly saying to her:

“Edna, how could you?”

“You’re saying this is my fault?” Edna growled. She was petting Eizen’s head.

“I’m not. I just want to know why you two are fighting.”

Edna’s side of the story was simple. Mikleo had always spent time with the young Sorey while Edna never once got to play with him. She had gotten jealous. She gave Mikleo the ultimatum of destroying his village if he didn’t let Sorey play with her as much as he got to with Mikleo. She figured that after all these years Mikleo would loosen up, but on the contrary, he had tried to steal Sorey back. Naturally, this angered her. She hid Sorey in the Spiritcrest, where he went missing on his own. Distraught by the news, Mikleo made the snow effigy as a talisman to bring Sorey back home.

“When I saw you again in Elysia, I thought he had stolen you from me again. I made good of my threat, but apparently that was too much for him.”

“It was. You shouldn’t have destroyed the very thing he loved, and Mikleo,” he turned to him even though he was sure he wasn’t really listening, “I’m not a plaything. You’ve got to share me with Edna. I have to work with both of you, now, and I don’t want you two to always fight. Can we call a truce?”

Edna got up from her throne, stepping daintily down to them. She held out her hand to Mikleo.

The water seraph looked up at her.

“You should have just told me,” he said.

“I did. Then you yelled at me and said that Sorey needed to have a bath and be put down for his afternoon nap,” Edna bluntly said.

Mikleo reluctantly took Edna’s hand, and with Sorey’s squeezing grip, they all shook and enacted the truce. Sorey couldn’t believe that he was the youngest of the three yet was also in charge of making sure they didn’t tear each other apart. He lastly made them both apologize. Mikleo and Sorey went to the Stonehenge after things were settled back in Elysia. The snowman effigy had been enshrined for Mikleo to come to when he missed him.

“Do you really have to go?” Mikleo asked. He kept a yearning grip on Sorey’s fingers.

“I do. Mikleo, don’t be sad. I’m always with you, and this personality doesn’t suit you,” Sorey said. “The next time I visit, I want you to be happy…or your usual bookworm self.”

Mikleo nodded. He held Sorey’s hands. “Thank you,” he whispered into his ear. “I’m sorry for all the trouble I caused again.”  
“It’s okay! This is kind of what my job is!”

Gaine gagged at the cutesy scene in front of him. The Stonehenge nevertheless glowed with light as Mikleo prepared to depart to the next level. Even if there was no new Song Magic from this Dive, Sorey was glad to know that Mikleo had moved on from his negative feelings about sharing with Edna. As everything was engulfed in light, he wished him the best.

\--------------------------------------------

Sorey opened his eyes to find Mikleo hugging his trunk. He looked to be extremely tired from the Dive, and he couldn’t blame him. For only the second level, things were rather intense, not to mention his soul space on the verge of collapsing.

“Mikleo, are you awake?” Sorey gently asked.

“Yes,” he drowsily said.

“About what I saw in your soul space—”

“I’m sorry—”

“I’m never going to leave you. We’ve been together for years, and what we have can’t easily be replaced, if at all. You don’t have to worry about me leaving you for Edna or anyone else I bond with; you’re my one and only.”

Mikleo hugged him tighter, nodding into his stomach. He wanted to stay like that in Sorey’s lap not only because he felt reassured but because he felt more tired than usual. It wasn’t just the Dive. There was a wave of malevolence pouring from the Falkewin Hillside that made him lethargic. They had to retrieve Edna; Sorey had to help the people in Marlind, the source of all the neighboring malevolence.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So yeah, the ending I played a little bit on the interview with Baba-sama when describing Sorey and Mikleo's relationship. And in retrospect, I could have gone into a little more detail, but then the chapter would have gotten really long for a cosmosphere chapter.


	13. Phase 1:  Plague Town

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sorey and his seraphim journey to Marlind, where the malevolence is almost overwhelming. After meeting with Alisha and investigating further, they learn that it's not all entirely the villagers fault.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter a little on the longer side. So far I like what I have going--kind of following Zestiria, but also kind of following Ar Tonelico. Anyway, things are getting serious!

“You two look more lovey-dovey than usual,” Edna flatly teased upon seeing them return to the Symphonic Reactor.

Shurelia didn’t say anything about her comment, and she knew that Dive went over well if they looked so comfortable with each other. Despite this, she couldn’t sense any significant difference in Mikleo’s ability to sing. She wondered if he had failed to craft Song Magic during the Dive. She couldn’t outright ask, yet she believed, or hoped, that he would probably make a new useful one soon.

Mikleo, on the other hand, wasn’t quite as calm. It wasn’t Edna’s place to know what had gone on during their time together. Sorey squeezed his hand, signaling him to let it go. He had already promised him that they would never be apart. When Mikleo flashed him an annoyed look, he gave him a one that made his heart flutter—their bond was something of a mystery.

“Okay, let’s go before I puke,” the earth seraph sighed.

“Are you returning to Ladylake?” Shurelia asked.

Sorey shook his head. “We’re headed to Marlind,” he said. “After the Dive, both Mikleo and I felt a powerful wave of malevolence. We had originally planned on going to find a seraph to help us get here, but Edna mentioned it was a plague town. I have reason to believe that the malevolence there is the cause of the plague, and the malevolence is coming from the enslavement of seraphim.”

Shurelia thought about it. It was logical to think it was all a feedback loop, and going to another town might curtail the abuse if he could really do something about it. Ultimately, she gave her blessing to Sorey and his seraphim. Before they left, she held Sorey back for a final warning:

“Be prepared for what you might see in Marlind. If the malevolence is so strong that you could feel it here, I imagine the worst is happening there. Don’t let your friends be overtaken.”

The dutiful Shepherd nodded. He had to protect them with all his heart. He had to ensure that Mikleo wasn’t afraid of going head-first into the evilness brewing in the world. He bade Shurelia farewell for now, rejoining Edna and Mikleo at the landing before they headed down the stairs. They left Eolia and headed back to the Falkewin Hillside where the malevolence had reached an all-time high. As they traversed the short distance, both Edna and Mikleo felt a drastic change in the atmosphere.

“Gross, this domain is almost as bad as a dragon’s,” Edna hissed.

“I have to agree,” Mikleo mumbled through his fingers that were covering his mouth in case he had to stop himself from vomiting.

Edna was used to such a strong tainted domain whereas Mikleo still had to build a tolerance to it. Even though his pact with Sorey should have protected him, it felt like it was working its way into his heart like a parasitic infection.

“Mikleo, go inside,” Sorey commanded out of concern. “It’s clearly too much for you out here.”

“I refuse,” the water seraph choked.

“Look, Sickly-o, if you don’t take advantage of the shield that Sorey is, you’re going to be corrupted,” Edna scolded. “Or die. Whichever one come first.”

“But it’ll make Sorey feel sick.”

“It’s worth it to keep you safe!” Sorey sternly said.

Mikleo tried to walk ahead of him so he couldn’t tell him what to do, but Sorey pulled him back. He spun him around, pulled him close so that their chests pressed together, and forced him to reside within his body. Almost immediately, the pulsating, nauseating heat that had been radiating from Mikleo’s body filtered through Sorey, bringing him to his knees with pain. Why was he so set on toughing through it when Sorey could barely breathe, let alone move?

_“Sorey, let me out,”_ Mikleo begged. _“It’s hurting you!”_

Sorey ignored him. Edna walked beside him analyzing her new master. She didn’t think he had a parental bone in his body as far as restricting Mikleo for the sake of protecting him. In fact, she had never seen him in her short time of travelling with him behave in such a way. She knew that he would have to house both of them when they got to Marlind, and since he had never had two seraphim inside of him, she had to wonder how his body would hold up.

Edna formed stone pillars across the Griflet River to replace the broken bridge. She imagined that at some point if humans ever ventured out into the world again, they could rebuild the bridge; it made her sick that she was giving the opportunity for humans to continue trafficking. At least it wouldn’t be anytime soon because the malevolence had gotten to a level that even she began to think it would be better if she took shelter inside of Sorey for the time being. It wasn’t just the waves but a few people that were hanging around outside of the village gates that intensified their nausea. Nearing them, they found that they had hogtied a few sick seraphim, all whimpering in fear save for one.

The Shepherd ordered Edna to join Mikleo inside of him in case they spotted them and in case they were about to cultivate more malevolence. He inferred that they were most likely going to torture the seraphim, and he didn’t want her to see that considering what had been done to her brother. He hid behind a tree just to get a glimpse of what kind of brutality was going on in Marlind.

“We’re so sorry,” one of the villagers wept. “You didn’t deserve any of this, but the only way to prevent you from turning into hellions is to…”

“We understand,” a seraph quietly said. “Even if we’re scared, we know that there is no other way.”

“Everyone, get ready. Be sure to blindfold them; they shouldn’t have to watch.”

Sorey secretly watched as the tiny group blindfolded the seraphim. Each of them had a knife. He watched in horror as they slit the seraphim’s throats, and he tried to hold it together as another wave of malevolence surged from them. It was a mercy killing, yet they were still contributing to the wickedness around them. Why? Weren’t they trying to do something good?

_“Sorey, let’s move,”_ Edna said. _“Staring at this is just as bad as leaving us out in the open.”_

Sorey came out of hiding once the villagers went back inside the gates. Marlind was a large village with two gates, according to the Celestial Record. The southern gate was essentially impassable thanks to the executions that had just taken place, so he headed for the northern gate. Pushing them open and wiggling into the boundaries of the village, the three of them didn’t expect the magnitude of the situation to be any worse than what they had felt before all the way in Lakehaven Heights.

Marlind was overflowing with malevolence to the point that Sorey felt the effects of it as well. It felt like there was a weight on his chest, crushing his ribs and lungs so that he couldn’t breathe. Edna and Mikleo were writhing as well, and as if Sorey’s body was a conduit for the malevolence, they almost wanted to break out from him.

“It’s okay,” he whispered to himself and, by proxy, the seraphim. “We can…we can get through this.”

He hobbled to the center of the village. Just like in Ladylake, the seraphim here were being used as slaves, most of them being forced to sing Hymmnos to help the diseased. The healthy people, including those that worked for the sanctuary, kicked and punched the seraphim that stopped singing. They threatened to throw them into the quarantined areas so that they would suffer the same fate if they didn’t keep singing. Sorey, in his ill health, was tempted to reprimand them.

“Stop it right there!” Alisha’s voice ordered from the northern gate. She accosted the villagers beating the seraphim with her spear drawn. “As the princess of Ladylake, I order you to cease and desist. Any further violence during my stay and after my leave will result in your arrest.”

Alisha hasn’t noticed that Sorey was also in Marlind, but she had come with a cart of medicine for the people. There was no sign of Rose or Dezel.

“Oh, so you think that just because you’re a princess, you can boss us around? Who’s the slave driver now?!” a villager bellowed.

Sorey finally joined in, eliciting from Alisha a startled yelp. “If you know what’s good for you and your people, you’ll stop these activities,” he warned. “Seraphim are not tools. They’re living things, too. They have feelings!”

“So do animals, but no qualms about eating them, are there?”

Sorey was prepared to give a physical warning, but he couldn’t risk sending Mikleo or Edna out into the open where they would be vulnerable. Alisha motioned for him to back off. She ordered the seraphim to stop singing and to take a rest before they developed Viruses. After that, she beckoned him to follow her to the sanctuary while a few knights that came with her to Marlind patrolled the area for abuse.

On the outside, the sanctuary wasn’t as fancy as the one in Ladylake, and the bulk of the malevolence was coming from it because it was the shelter for the sick and dying. Sorey learned that Chancellor Bartlow had sent her there to “fix the problem”, and Alisha expressed her suspicions about sending someone in her position to a place as dangerous as Marlind. Still she was concerned about the people and the seraphim.

“Did you see them outside?” she asked him. “The seraphim that had been murdered?”

“It was a mercy killing, not murder,” Sorey corrected softly. “There are people here who don’t like that they’re treated as slaves. Those people are the ones who are trying to kill them so that they don’t turn into hellions once they get sick. They’ll die anyway, but…”

“Becoming a hellion isn’t true death. But even so, it’s a horrible way to die.”

Sorey glanced around her. Lailah had previously been travelling with her but wasn’t anywhere near her; Alisha thought the same for him after realizing that Mikleo was nowhere to be found. He caught her up on his adventure—Mikleo was inside of him with another seraph. While Alisha was glad to hear that he gotten another seraph on his side, she couldn’t help but snicker about Mikleo’s situation. Needless to say, Sorey didn’t find it to be cute.

“Oh, that reminds me,” Alisha suddenly said. “Bartlow said that someone had stolen his Shepherd’s glove—not that it’s really his glove to begin with—and ordered me to find it. Then someone had left a note asking me to deliver the Shepherd’s garb to you. I’m glad I got to meet up with you. It was quite cumbersome to hide it from Bartlow’s eyes.”

Alisha handed him the robe but told him not to put it on until he left the village. If the people of Marlind, controlled by Hyland, knew he was the Shepherd, a manhunt would begin and they would rip Mikleo and Edna out of him.

Sorey thanked her then asked, “Where’s Lailah?”

Alisha’s expression changed. She seemed to be holding back from crying. “Bartlow won’t let me near her. They say she’s going through some sort of training, and I haven’t heard from her since. Even my connection to her is a little hazy; right now, I can’t feel her at all.”

“Maybe I should go back to Ladylake with you and help you find her.”

“But what about Mikleo and Edna? You know as well as I do that trying to go back to Ladylake will get you all in trouble.”

“I’ll protect them.”

_“Wow, aren’t you brave,”_ Edna commented.

Alisha sincerely thanked him for the offer. She led him inside the sanctuary where a number of bodies had been covered with a sheet. Lilies were placed on their chests, and the sight revolted the earth seraph. She couldn’t understand how they could treat her kind like trash while they gave proper funerals to the ones who had fallen from the disease. Alisha felt the same way, but she had to comply with her orders from Chancellor Bartlow if she wanted to see Lailah safe. She handed the medicine to the clergymen, who set about to administering the cure.

_“The medicine won’t work if we don’t do something about the malevolence,”_ Mikleo said. He was right, but where would they start?

Sorey recalled that the domain was similar to that of a dragon, so he figured that there must be something similar to a dragon around the village. It is talks and walks like a duck—that was his reasoning. But even if he was right, they were no match for any dragons without a proper song. The only one with any experience in such songs was Edna. To craft a song, he would have to Dive into her, but how could he when she couldn’t come out? The plan now focused on lessening the malevolence to make it safe to Dive.

“I think I saw something near the northern gate,” Alisha mentioned. “It looked like a ghost of a hellion. Do you think we can diffuse the malevolence by getting rid of them?”

“Sure, but without Lailah’s Silver Flame, we can’t purify anything,” Sorey said with frustration.

“What about Hymmnos?”

“Mikleo and Edna don’t know anything about songs that can purify.”

“The Shepherd’s power?”

“Same problem.”

“What about the slavery? If we can emancipate the seraphim here, then surely that will get rid of them.”

“Can’t do anything about it yet…unfortunately.”

The final decision came with simply following the bread crumb trail of malevolence to specific places and people within the village to solve the problem until they could find a way to stop the hellion ghosts from infecting the village and subsequently draw out the hypothesized dragon creating the domain.

The first investigation was simple. A woman had been stealing books on behalf of her dead daughter. She was arrested, and her hope that one day she would be compelled to stop her crimes liberated her of malevolence. It was a strange case but a solved one.

Next, Sorey and Alisha followed the malevolence to an abandoned museum called the Dumnonia Museum. Mikleo and Edna reacted negatively to it, causing pain to spread through Sorey’s chest.

_“There are hellions in there,”_ Edna stated. _“It seems that they used to throw humans seraphim into the museum if they were no longer of any use. I guess it got too full, so they started euthanizing them outside the village.”_

_“I can’t help but feel that if we go in there, we’ll see something rather traumatizing,”_ Mikleo added. _“If it gets rough in there, just leave, got it?”_

“I know,” Sorey responded aloud.

He and Alisha stepped into the museum. The foyer wasn’t heavily tainted, but it was coming from the rest of the museum. Alisha could feel it too—a strange type of chilling malevolence that seeped into her bones like a winter’s night frost. Sorey worried about her especially since she couldn’t join Mikleo and Edna in the safety his body provided. Her resonance was high enough to keep her awake, but the farther they went into the museum, the harder it became to stay conscious.

Hellions kept attacking them, too, and it pained them to slay them. They hadn’t done anything than just fall ill or gotten tired from overwork. Edna and Mikleo kept reminding him that he had to move on. There was no time to mourn them, not when each passing second crippled them more.

One of the rooms they came to had an eerie bloody scrawling in Hymmnos on the wall:

_Heighte sara en sara chs erlla ganna_   
_Heighte anw hers en weel whalt?_   
_Walaka won corpu hers en sik corle hers!_   
_How hasyu en sik elle boches hers prooth!_

_“Whoever wrote this went crazy,”_ Edna concluded after Sorey stared at it long enough for her to translate it.

She didn’t disclose the details for their sake, but Mikleo understood it just as well. Either a seraph or a human from long ago had written the insane epitaph. Neither of them felt good about it.

They continued on deeper into the museum, fighting off the hellions that came for their blood until they came to a long corridor on the second floor where there was more vandalism. Just like the scribbles on the wall, the statue of a previous Shepherd, his head and arms snapped off, was decorated with bloody Hymmnos:

_Haf viega en kyll weaken mahin!_   
_Haf viega en kyll sheaken mahin!_  
 _Denera murfan zash en werlwe!_  
 _“Zash! Zash!” hueaf hes rasse!_  
 _Haf viega en kyll sphilar!_  
 _Denera quive, denera morto!_

Sorey and Alisha pressed for a translation, but Mikleo urged Edna not to tell them. The writings were getting worse; they were giving off malevolence. Reading them made the seraphim sick, in turn making Sorey feel like he wanted to vomit. He took it as a hint to leave them alone even though he was itching to know what the scribbles said.

“Have they said anything about it?” Alisha asked.

“All I know is that whatever was written made them feel worse than they do now,” Sorey said through his hand. “Mikleo is worried.”

“Why?”

“He feels guilty that he and Edna are making me feel like this.”

Alisha wondered if they should leave and come back after a break, but it didn’t make sense to do that when the entire village was just as venomous as the museum. It was hard to watch Sorey carry two seraphim inside of him, and she wished she could help in some way. Being bound to Lailah, however, compromised her ability to accept any other seraph. That said, because she was simply a Squire, she wouldn’t have been able to house them without reaching the deepest part of their souls—something that Mikleo, at least, would never allow.

Sorey hobbled forward down the hall, Alisha at his heels. He didn’t know if he should check any more ruined artifacts for clues given the effects, but if they wanted to get to the bottom of whatever had happened to the museum, he was resigned to stomach it. Coming to a completely demolished statue, he found one more scribble:

_Eta en eta, zethpa dea viega oz boches corpu!_   
_Denera chs celle en glasee corpu!_   
_Eta anw corpu hers en pat prooth hers, na rete fandel!_

_“T-They were eating people?!”_ Mikleo panicked.

_“A sign of depravity. Sorey, this place is a cesspool,”_ Edna warned.

“I know, but we have to find the source,” he coughed. He felt Mikleo trying to come out. He hugged himself, forcing him to stay inside. “Don’t come out! You won’t survive out here!”

_“You need to get out of here then! We can’t handle it even inside of you!”_

Sorey collapsed. He was fighting against them desperately to stay put until Alisha touched his arm while he was on the ground. She felt their anguish building up inside of him. Then there was a loud crash below. It sounded like someone in armor had broken down the door, and they were headed up after them. The creature snarled as it came up the stairs they had climbed; it sang in corrupted Hymmnos.

“Sorey, we have to leave!” Alisha pleaded. “Your seraphim are scared, too! Something is coming after us, and you’re in no condition to fight!”

She pulled him up, and the two found the doors to a staircase that lead back down to the first floor. Removing the cobwebs that covered the door leading back to the foyer, Alisha ushered him out of the building. When they had run past the iron gate connecting to the entrance of the museum and out towards the legendary Great Tree—now suffering from the malevolence—Mikleo and Edna forced their way out of Sorey and caused him to almost faint.

Edna clenched her teeth as she tried to withstand the evilness swirling around. Mikleo sought refuge next to Sorey. He felt both guilty and angry at him. He had greatly debilitated him, but he couldn’t understand why he was trying to push through it when they were clearly in danger. Alisha saw to Edna, who slapped her away.

“Don’t touch me,” she growled. “My body feels like it’s going to crumble away to dust. Sorey was an idiot for trying to continue.”

“Edna, at least let me give you an apple gel to give you some energy.”

The earth seraph complied, sucking up the fruity jelly from the princess’s hand. She looked over at Mikleo and Sorey and asked, “What was he trying to prove? Did he really think that he could protect us from malevolence that was that bad?” Mikleo didn’t answer her since he didn’t know himself.

Out of curiosity, a few villagers came to the museum’s yard. When they found Mikleo and Edna together with Alisha and Sorey, all hell broke loose. They screamed and hollered for the knights that had come with Alisha to expose the two seraphim that had entered with them. At first, Edna didn’t understand until she realized that there was something different between her and Mikleo and the other seraphim in the village—the ones in the village were pale from sickness and shackled. She and Mikleo were dressed extravagantly, free of any bounds on their ankles and wrists.

The knights neared them, and they were all of a sudden ready to seize Alisha for betraying Ladylake’s seraph policy. Lailah was the only one she could be with, but to them, it seemed she had obviously tried to bond with another one. They weren’t going to be nice with Edna and Mikleo, either. Not when they had full use of their powers.

Edna pushed Alisha far away from her then encased herself in a boulder. She fortified it as much as she could so they couldn’t break in, or at least it would be excruciatingly difficult to chip the stone.

Sorey regained his bearings after hearing the sounds of struggle. His sight was blurry. He barely saw how Alisha was pushed towards the village gates while the knights formed a team to carry Edna’s rock. Mikleo was…

“Let go of Mikleo!” he demanded as a couple guards pinned the water seraph down, gagged him, and tied him up. “Mikleo!”

“Arrest the boy as well,” the highest ranking knight of the bunch ordered.

A couple of knights attempted to knock him unconscious, but he maneuvered away. Swinging his blade, he ran after Mikleo. Ordering him to use a Seraphic Arte to break free, Sorey used a new Hidden Arte called Sonic Thrust to stun the knights carting him away. Mikleo couldn’t fight back thanks to the weakness the malevolence incurred. The knights swatted at him to prevent him from cutting his water seraph loose. One punched him in the cheek, stunning him for a brief moment.

Something had shot through his stomach into Mikleo’s leg. At first he felt nothing then there was an itchy sensation then searing pain. He fell to his knees while gripping the wound. Squeaks came from his throat.

“Looks like this guy stole the Shepherd’s Glove,” a knight accused as Sorey flopped onto his side. He was slowly losing consciousness to abate the pain. “Chancellor Bartlow will have a nice chat with him.”

“M-Mikleo…!” he struggled to yell.

In front of him, Mikleo trembled as an arrow protruded from the side of his thigh. He was probably crying, but with the gag in his mouth so he couldn’t sing, he couldn’t make himself heard. Things were getting dimmer. A knight walked over to the captured seraph, and he knelt down examining his thigh. He grabbed the shaft of the arrow. With one swift pull, he ripped it from his leg. The arrowhead tore through his porcelain skin and the fabric of his pants. Mikleo arched in pain before his body forced him to black out.

“Mikleo!” Sorey yelled again.

Another knight stood over him, and with the sheath of his sword, he hit Sorey’s head until he was unconscious.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fun fact: I translated the bloody scrawls in Dumnonia Museum from English to Hymmnos. Not every word in those scrawls exists in Hymmnos, but I got the majority of it. Next chapter is going to be graphic and probably depressing.


	14. Phase 1:  The Hyland Experiments

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Hyland Kingdom, represented by Chancellor Bartlow, finally has possession of Sorey and his seraphim. After being unable to connect to his Shepherd when he needs to most and after learning the horrors happening behind the scenes of the Hyland Kingdom, Mikleo and Sorey await their fate with respect to the Seraphoid Project. (Chapter contains torture; PLEASE READ THE BEGINNING NOTE.)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **THIS CHAPTER CONTAINS GRAPHIC TORTURE. (I've put a warning in the summary as well)**
> 
> It's been a long time since I've written about torture, and I actually managed to limit myself and realize that not everyone appreciates gore and suffering. That said, besides the mentions of the Vaccine (from Ar Tonelico 3), whatever happens in this chapter and some of the next chapter are NOT contents of the original games. I've reread this chapter about six times or more now to ensure that it's not going overboard while still keeping the cruelty and callousness and even insanity of the humans and Mikleo and Sorey's sense of helplessness, but everyone's got a different threshold. (In fact, once I shared a Corpse Party fanfiction a long time ago and people got mad at me for the amount of gore, but...well, it was Corpse Party.)

REPORT #1: LADY OF THE LAKE  
My researchers have finished preparations for Ladylake’s signature seraph to become a Vaccine to the seraphim that develop Viruses as well as converting these diseased seraphim into Seraphoids. At first, her mind and body could not handle the capacity required to understand and instate the ancient tongue, but after much rehabilitation, she has learned how to use it. We have yet to use her practically; we have simply been emulating past Vaccines. Remarkably, once she was able to use the ancient tongue, her power not only worked accordingly but at a much greater magnitude than previously recorded. The new Vaccine, thus, must be used in a very controlled environment or her vessel must serve as an antenna for her power. As long as the diseased seraph is within her sights, she cannot fail to convert them into a Seraphoid.

REPORT #2: ENCASED EARTH SERAPH  
My forces brought back from Marlind two seraphim—one encased in stone and one that was brought with the supposed “Shepherd” who stole my glove. This report will detail about the first seraph. It appears that the earth seraph encased itself in a vain attempt to protect itself from humans. The stone serving as the shell is harder than steel, so we will have to use an abundance of our Seraphoids to crack it open assuming they are ready to function. The current rumor is that this seraph might be the one that I had previously set out to capture from the Rayfalke Spiritcrest. If this is true, I will stop at nothing to convert the seraph into one of the Seraphoids. With that power, I’ll be invincible.

REPORT #3: SHEPHERD’S SERAPH  
Of the two seraphim brought from Marlind today, this one is particularly intriguing, according to the researchers. He is a water seraph, yet there is no trace of malevolence in him. The Shepherd also seemed desperate to save him when they were caught, going as far as allowing himself to be injured. The researchers speculate that this seraph might be the primary seraph connected to him. Experimentation begins on him today since he does not have any protection around him like the earth seraph, and we plan to take advantage of that. His direct link and the Shepherd’s preference for him may be of some use, and his affiliation will serve a great purpose in making more medicine for the people of Marlind. After our tests are complete; I, Chancellor Bartlow, will become the god of the new Seraphoid world.

REPORT #4: ZAVEID THE EXILE  
We have recaptured Zaveid, and we plan to place Alisha’s soul inside his body.

\---------------------------------------

Mikleo woke up blindfolded and cold. He had been stripped of his clothes and thrown somewhere damp. He was still tied up with a cloth as a gag in his mouth, which he managed to push out with his tongue. He coughed a couple times from the resulting dryness in his mouth and throat. Wherever he was, it smelled of decayed flesh and mold. Water could be heard faintly gushing in the distance. The malevolence made him sick to his stomach.

“S-Sorey?” he asked. “S-Sorey, are you there?”

No answer.

“Don’t mess with me. If you’re there—”

“That brat isn’t here,” a deep voice said sharply. It made Mikleo flinch. “So, you’re the Shepherd’s seraph—or one of his seraphim, I should say. I’ve heard you’re pretty resilient. You went to Marlind and didn’t develop a Virus even after you went out into the open. Yes, I think you have great potential.”

Everything was silent for a short while save for the sounds of armor clanking from far away. The taps of the shoes of whoever had greeted him got quieter, the clanking louder until they were right next to him. Someone pulled off the blindfold, revealing that he had been brought to a dungeon of sorts deep within what appeared to be an aqueduct. It was dark, and there were piles of bones, both mana-infused and without the spiritual energy, in the cages. Mikleo slowly turned away from his surroundings and looked up at the knights, both of which were holding long wooden sticks fortified with metal handles so they wouldn’t shatter in their hands.

“W-What are you going to do?” he frightfully asked. He didn’t know why he asked the question since he knew what was coming. The anxiety and fear made him want to cry. “D-Don’t…”

Each knight raised the stick into the air. One hit him across the head, the other hit his leg, the first one hit his arm, and they continued to go back and forth taking turns beating every inch of his body. Mikleo guarded his head by curling as much as his body would allow, whimpering quietly when they briefly paused and crying out when they attacked him. He couldn’t understand anything that was happening, and he was beginning to lose focus.

Why was he so scared of these knights?

Why were they beating him?

Where was Sorey?

Why was he not out on the streets working to death like the other seraphim?

For what did he have great potential?

His arms ached; his whole body did. He mistakenly extended himself as his back and shoulder muscles cramped from the tension, allowing for a blow to his neck which caused him to fall into a coughing fit. He reflexively pushed them away with Twin Flow, but it only served to make them more violent.

“L-Leave me alone!” he cried. He dragged himself to a corner, whining like an abused dog. Again, they beat him until he started bleeding from lacerations caused by the wood striking his skin. His white skin turned black with bruises. “Someone, help me! I beg of you! Sorey, where are you?!”

Eventually the sticks broke just above the handles, and the knights resorted to punching and kicking and stomping him. One of them grabbed him up by his delicate white-to-blue hair, shoving his head against the wall while twisting his arms over his head to try and dislocate his shoulders. When they were finished assaulting him, Mikleo curled as tightly as he could in the corner of his cell. He panted. His consciousness went in and out. He mumbled Sorey’s name helplessly.

The tapping footsteps came back. They belonged to an old man with a hawked nose and silver shoulder-length hair. His eyes were cold and relentless like the man himself was a hellion. He exuded malevolence on par with that of a dragon. He muttered something to the knights, who then turned back to Mikleo without a word. Rather calm, one of them knelt down and grabbed his throat roughly. He pressed down as hard as he could until Mikleo started kicking in a vain attempt to break away from of his grip. His hands were tied behind his back so he couldn’t free himself other than trying to wiggle from underneath him. Dragging him across the floor into a better position to handle him, the knight clutching at his neck pressed his knee into his stomach while keeping hold of him. With his free hand, he pressed down on his mouth and nose so no air could leave or enter his body. The kicking got more violent as the defenseless seraph was running out of air. The old man just watched with an evilly delighted smile on his thin lips.

Mikleo’s next idea was to turn his head away to break the cover over his nose and mouth. The pressure coupled with the weight of the malevolence was so strong on his body that he could barely move. He choked, writhing as his lungs felt like imploding. Then his body started moving less and raspy exhales echoed into the knight’s palm. He was becoming delirious from the lack of air, his movements uncoordinated; why was the knight trying to suffocate him? What had he done to deserve this torture?

“Alright, let him go,” the old man commanded. “We can’t have one of the Shepherd’s seraphim dying on us. We have yet to get the earth seraph out of that shell, but this water seraph will do nicely for the Seraphoid Project. Bring him upstairs to the palace. They’ll be here any minute to extract what we need.”

The knight who had strangled Mikleo flipped him over on his stomach. He carried him by his neck, his legs dragging lifelessly along the ground. The abused water seraph’s consciousness came and went in ebbs, allowing him to periodically recognize that he had been taken somewhere else but not enough to know exactly where. When he woke, he found that he was in one of the drawing rooms of the Rountabel Palace near Alisha’s home.

The furniture had been pushed to the wall and tarps were lay all over the plush carpet. A makeshift examination table had been made from a coffee table with braces bolted down to it. Splotches of blood were all over the table and the tarps; there were even streaks high up on the walls from where it had splattered and dripped down. There was an inordinate amount of malevolence far greater than anything he had every experienced in the room alone. He gagged and his head ached. It was a toxin to his very being.

Mikleo was still foggy from his scuffle in the dungeon, and the malevolence he felt didn’t make things any better. He felt nauseous and fatigued but most of all, he felt alone. He couldn’t sense Sorey’s presence at all in that room that seemed to be isolated from the world. He wasn’t sure if the malevolence was paralyzing his resonance or if Sorey was somewhere else altogether. All he knew was that in the cesspool that was Rountabel Palace, he was helplessly _alone_.

The knights undid the rope that had bruised his wrists while he was still reeling from lack of oxygen then fastened him to the table so that his forearms dangled over the sides. Once everything was in place, they stood by the door. In a few moments, the old man and two sophisticated-looking citizens entered the drawing room.

“Is this the specimen, Chancellor Bartlow?” one of the citizens asked the old man.

“Quite a scrawny one if you ask me,” the other judged.

“You’re Chancellor Bartlow?” Mikleo gasped dazedly.

“Yes, this is the remarkable water seraph that has yet to be corrupted,” Bartlow replied. He ordered the citizens to find out why he had yet to be tainted by the malevolence and to extract whatever they deemed would be useful for the people of Marlind. “You may toy with him, but you are not to kill him. He must still be within an inch of his life and sanity if we want to turn him into a Seraphoid.”

With that, Bartlow left them to their work. The two citizens—two educated men that had a nasty aura around them—hovered over his bare body. Having them look at him was completely different from when Sorey saw him during their Dives or simply when bathing with him. They probed his skin as if he were an extraterrestrial being from a far-off planet. Mikleo was perturbed by where those eerily gloved hands touched, and when they were finished examining him, he felt disgustingly violated. He hated being touched by them, and it made him yearn for Sorey’s warmth more, though he knew that he wouldn’t feel it. Something told him that it would be a long time before he would see his Shepherd.

“It’s intriguing how similar seraphim anatomy is to human anatomy, yet they don’t need food or sleep,” one of them said. “Do you think they have to use the restroom?”

“If they don’t eat, they don’t defecate. But to think their organs can be used as replacements in humans, too,” the other cooed. “It’s been so long since we’ve had to sacrifice livestock to conduct transplants.”

“Once we drain and set all the blood we can get from him, perhaps we can dissect him!”

“He’ll bleed out; unless the conversion is a failure and he dies, we can’t cut him open at the chest, but probably we can do a limb or two or perhaps his abdomen if we don’t go too deep. Depends on how far he goes after the draining.”

Mikleo’s heart began to race with all this talk about dissecting and draining him. He had never been more afraid in his life. He remained silent as he tried to focus on Sorey’s soul. He couldn’t find him! Where was he? Why couldn’t he reach out to his soul and let him know that these strangers—these strange creatures that weren’t human in the slightest—were planning to fillet him? His mind teemed with dread, and he thought about trying to force himself to imagine himself in Elysia with Gramps and everyone else, but in remembering that Elysia had been destroyed, he couldn’t help but feel like everything was coming to an end.

One of the men placed a heavy medicine bag on the table next to Mikleo’s foot. There was a noisy clanking from it which sent shivers throughout the poor water seraph; the owner of the bag pulled out a few scalpels of different sizes. The other man put a metal bucket under each of his hands.

“What are you doing to me?” Mikleo interrogated. He was wide awake now. As much as he was hyperventilating, he had regained his bearings. “Why do you have so many scalpels?”

“I forgot seraphim knew how to talk,” the first one grumbled hatefully. “We’re going to collect some blood from you, play around with your half-dead body if we have time, then package you up to be converted into a Seraphoid. Heard they’ve got a special human for you—the Shepherd, in fact!”

“Bartlow wants to see if the Shepherd’s human soul can be placed into his seraph’s body,” the second one added. “Can you imagine the power that Seraphoid would have?”

“Assuming the body isn’t torn apart from the sheer force.”

Mikleo panicked, trying to use his Seraphic Artes to free his arms from the restraints. The malevolence was too much, however, and rendered them useless. Even his Hymmnos had no effect in the red room where he lay.

“Y-You don’t have to do this!” Mikleo pleaded. “If you just let me go, I…I can promise you that the Shepherd won’t come after you! I can…I can fend him off! Please just don’t do this to me!”

The men were growing more annoyed with each word. They wanted to gag him, but at the same time, the sadists wanted to hear him struggle for his life as he lost blood. Each of them grabbed a scalpel then took a wrist. Slicing into him along his arm, they giggled as the glorious red fluid flowed into the buckets like scarlet waterfalls. According to Bartlow, seraph blood was a key ingredient in the medicine for the people in Marlind when it coagulated and mixed into other ingredients, and the more resilient to the malevolence the seraph was, the more potent the medicine turned out to be.

Mikleo whined with each pulse of his heart; the men started to massage his arms to coax more of his blood to drain into the bucket. At first it was only the sensation of feeling his veins empty out that scared him. As he lost more, his skin lost what little color it had and got colder than what he was used to. His heart was already racing but now felt as if it were trying to flutter out of his chest probably to find a home with the one he loves. His anxiety and fear morphed into confusion. His skin became more and more dehydrated even though he was sweating out every drop of water he had in him. His breathing went from long, deep breaths to short pants as his body tried to compensate for the blood loss.

“I’ve got a liter in this bucket,” the first one said after a few minutes.

“Me too,” the second replied.

They left Mikleo’s side to grab bandages from the bag, and after wrapping his wrists mediocrely, they moved the buckets aside to coagulate. Once the blood was thickened, they would take it to make the medicine somewhere else in the palace.

The two men examined Mikleo again, who was breathing as fast as his body could make him to ensure that his organs would survive the asphyxiation happening throughout him. Without the two liters they had drained from him, there was no guarantee that his body would be able to sustain itself. They decided that they couldn’t dissect him.

“I wish there was more we could do to them before we have to hand them over to the Church,” the first man sighed. “Think I can play God for a bit and push him to the edge of death?”

“Better safe than sorry,” the second scolded. “If we accidentally kill him, Bartlow will send us to that godforsaken dungeon.”

“Water…” Mikleo coughed between pants and whines. “Please…water…”

“Make your own damn water! That’s your element, isn’t it? Just magic some up!”

“ _Please…_ ” Mikleo begged again. “S-Sorey, help…I…don’t…want…to…die…Not in…this room…”

“It won’t be this room.”

“And that Shepherd won’t help you.”

“How do you know he doesn’t want to become a Seraphoid? Power like that is beyond any man’s wildest dreams.”

“He’s probably celebrating with Chancellor Bartlow now!”

“Or perhaps Bartlow is weakening him. He did that to people before. Beat their heads and broke their bones—of course, the blood is never on his hands. Those Seraphoid knights will listen to any order he gives.”

Mikleo’s body was wrought with pain in his chest. His head was floating, and if he weren’t trying so hard to rebound from the shock, he would have fallen into a coma. He tried to cry for Sorey in a last-ditch effort to find help. He wanted to believe that he was completely against the project, and he wanted to believe that he was safe. It sounded to him like his voice carried all the way to wherever he was, but…

\-----------------------------------------

“Let me go, dammit!” Sorey cursed. He was bound by ropes on his hands and feet as two knights stood over him with clubs. He was prepared to take any sort of bludgeoning they had in mind for him as long as he would be able to see Mikleo. “Where is he!?”

Bartlow cackled, “The Shepherd is more worried about his seraph than the entirety of the population of Marlind! That young man is doing us a kind favor by donating two liters of his blood to make the medicine for them.” He paced in front of him. “That’s quite a special seraph you’ve got, and I’m sure his blood will save a large portion of that population.”

Sorey’s stomach plummeted through the church’s floor. He sadly knew that Hyland was abusing the seraphim, but to learn that they were poaching them for their bodies made him angry and sick, more so than the malevolence in Marlind had made him. For once, he was deathly afraid of what was happening to Mikleo because he knew that he was a fragile person despite his strong Seraphic Artes. He had been trying to sense him, and he only got glimpses, which translated into strange body aches and unexplained restlessness and the occasional arrhythmia.

“Well, enough about the seraph—I’m surprised you’re not concerned about the princess,” Bartlow mocked, glancing at her lying unconscious on a pew. “After all, her seraph was the Lady of the Lake, and you haven’t seen her for quite some time.”

“What are you talking about?! Where’s Lailah?! What have you done to her?!”

“She’ll be here soon. Once they bring me your seraph, we can get down to business. We’ve never had the opportunity to plant the Shepherd’s soul into the body of a seraph, so I truly do wonder what will happen.”

Sorey again was unnerved by the insanity that had been going on behind the scenes of the Hyland Kingdom. They were conducting monstrous experiments on the seraphim, and the people didn’t even know! Would they care to find out what was going on? Would it frighten them to know that they’d been ingesting seraph blood to heal their ailments? Besides all that, he was starting to realize that they were trying to mess with the laws of nature.

“Why are you trying to put human souls into seraph bodies?” Sorey quietly asked as he tried to fathom for what purpose the chancellor would go so far. “What could you possibly gain from something so demonic?”

“Here I thought you would never ask!”

Bartlow began his spiel on his Seraphoid Project. His goal was to rule the world with the hybrid beings. In his mind, it was the only way that humans and seraphim could coexist. He wanted a world in which humans existed but had regained the ability to use Hymmnos they once had, which lie within the mystery of the seraphim. He explained the process to the horrified Shepherd:

“To do this, a seraph must be captured and subjected to physical and mental torture ranging from extreme abuse or the witnessing of acquaintances’ deaths—personally, abuse is much cleaner. The torture, as we’ve found, exposes the connection to the Tower as an emergency fail-safe to preserve their soul. The connection between the Tower and the seraph holds within it the seraph’s true name, which can be rewritten by, preferably, a Seraphoid’s Seraphic Artes to effectively disconnect the seraph; however, the seraph’s mind is still intact and therefore requires more stimulation to isolate the mind itself. Of course, there are risks—if the seraph is exposed to distressing stimuli for too long, they can break and develop Viruses. The best way to go about this part is to simply administer controlled heavy electric shocks until the seraph is numbed to the outside world, and that typically results in the seraph having a seizure or two. When the seraph has been shocked enough to forget who they are; they have no more safeguards between them and the Tower. The Tower then attempts to heal them, and we interrupt that process in the moment of vulnerability to implant the human soul—thus, the seraph body houses the human soul. Once the human soul is implanted, the connection between the new Seraphoid and the Tower is re-established, and we put the Seraphoid through repurposing training to mask the human soul. We have never failed even if recuperation takes some time, and we look forward to merging you and your seraph to become the strongest Seraphoid in the world!”

Bartlow raised his hands in celebration of the coming of the new era, but Sorey couldn’t begin to wonder how Shurelia hadn’t sensed any of the wrongs the Ladylake priests have committed.

“You’re insane,” he could only say.

“Geniuses usually are, my dear Shepherd.”

The doors of the church swung open as one of the knights carried Mikleo’s half-dead body towards the altar of the Sacred Blade in his arms. Sorey watched, observing every detail of the slender body. He felt a very weak connection between him and the seraph, and he worried that he was about to die. When they laid him on the altar, he saw the quick minute heaves of his chest; the bandages around Mikleo’s wrists were sopping wet with crimson blood.

“You drained him and didn’t even suture the incisions?!” Bartlow growled. “No matter. It won’t be a problem for long. Bring in the Lady of the Lake and her Sacred Blade! Bring in the Electrocutioner!”

Mikleo, struggling to breathe on the altar, looked straight at Sorey. His mouth was agape as he breathed rapidly and desperately; his eyes were half-closed and dull and filled with deliriousness. The Shepherd wanted to cradle him in his arms until he was nursed back to perfect health, but with him tied up and guarded by armed knights, he couldn’t. And, to his dismay, it almost looked like each pant was a single word:

“Help.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I AM SO SORRY, MIKLEO.
> 
> Hopefully that wasn't too rough. The draining of Mikleo's blood, as morbid as it is, is something like what Elizabeth Bathorey did, which earned her the name Bloody Mary. Or, if you prefer a modern reference, Salem S2 in which Mercy straps up Dollie, puts that collar with the faucet on it around her neck, and drains her blood into a bathtub. Of course there is nothing in either games that depict this stuff, and can seraphim actually handle more injury? Does seraph blood actually have healing capabilities? Probably not on that last one, but in the society they live in this cross-over, I wouldn't be surprised. That said, the Seraphoid business is like the Reyvaroid business in AT3 except a touch more...sinister...and the Church is bad as always (well, maybe more for Pendrago canonically, but Hyland hasn't always been good either.)
> 
> The next chapter will be delayed for an indefinite amount of time.


	15. [TITLE REDACTED]

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> **THERE IS GRAPHIC TORTURE IN THIS CHAPTER**
> 
> While Edna is dealing with her own problems against Bartlow's men, Sorey witnesses the process to turn a seraph into a Seraphoid.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **GRAPHIC TORTURE IS IN THIS CHAPTER.**
> 
> This part two of all the shit that hits the fan for this part, and I'm really sorry. The goal is to show how awful humans had become, and if you wish to read this chapter, reader discretion is advised.
> 
>  **PARTS OF THIS CHAPTER ARE BEING WITHHELD AT THE MOMENT, INCLUDING THE TITLE.** I took a hiatus on this to not only finish up my Tainted AU fic but also because I wanted to actually produce the original songs I did write for this fanfiction. UTAU is being a pain in the ass and I don't know how to fix the program-breaking error (and while I know Japanese, I don't know technical Japanese to read the install directions, which isn't even the beginning of the problem). As such, I won't be posting the Hymmnos/Ar Ciela lyrics for this chapter until I can fix the program or I can find someone that can help me make the songs.

The Hyland knights tried as best as they could to chip away the stone protecting Edna from them. The earth seraph, lying inside, continuously searched for any damage and repaired it with the surrounding debris from their progress. She giggled sadistically as she made them start the process over, but she knew that she didn’t have unlimited power. The malevolence was strong enough to seep through her shell, so in due time she would be forced to dismantle it. Until then, she decided to keep up the fight until either Sorey managed to find her or someone else came to her rescue. While that idea irritated her, she accepted that she would have to rely on others.

“I wonder how Meebo is holding up in all this nonsense,” she muttered. “I almost feel bad for him—he doesn’t have any way to protect himself. I’m not sensing Sorey, either.”

She listened to the knights complain about her giving them a hard time. After a couple hours of arduous work with no reward, the amusement had faded; she’d dealt with things more annoying than humans trying to break her shell, but it was ultimately pointless to keep expending her energy.

“We should get one of those Seraphoids in here to break it open,” one of them said.

“Bartlow will gut you if you try to use them for something like this…that is, if they don’t kill you first,” the second one said.

“I heard the Seraphoids are a long way from being the perfect killing machines,” a third gossiped. “And besides, Bartlow did say that he’d resort to using them if we couldn’t crack this thing open by the end of the day. Or by the time the ultimate Seraphoid is created.”

“Speaking of which, he’s apparently found one that’s directly linked to the current Shepherd!” the fourth celebrated. “He plans to merge the two. Once he gets that Seraphoid singing, Hyland will be unstoppable! Rolance will stand no chance against us!”

Edna was interested in what she had heard, but not enough so to voluntarily break down the shell. Judging by the prattling, she suspected that Mikleo was the seraph they had mentioned, and suddenly she felt cold. She wanted to know more about Seraphoids and exactly what that had to do with Mikleo and Sorey, but in the pit of her stomach was a seed of fear, sprouting at the thought of this project resulting in the death of a seraph and the Shepherd for no reason. Having seen what the seraphim under the Hyland rule can do to living things, she knew she would have to fight against the men holding her hostage.

Just before she broke down the stone around her, someone she knew walked in. The haughty tone and the lackadaisical attitude—she knew just who it was. She could sense his arrogant wind.

“Rise from the earth, Deceiving Pummel!” Zaveid’s voice called out. His glowing chains made of the wind ripped through the ground, punching the knights, knocking them out. His footsteps clicked around. “Man, you guys are so easy when you’re taken by surprise!” He waltzed over to the stone shell. “Knock, knock; we’ve got business to attend to.”

Edna revealed herself to Zaveid with a look of annoyance. She wasn’t particularly fond of him, but she was slightly happy to see him. Just as well, she would have been happy to see anyone who wasn’t a human.

“To think you would get caught!” Zaveid grinned.

“Can it,” Edna retorted. “We can talk about my screw-up after we find Sorey.”

“So he really did get caught.”

It seemed to Edna that Zaveid hadn’t believed it at first, and she wondered how he had come to know who he was in the first place. There was a time and place for stories, but now wasn’t that time and there wasn’t that place. They had to get moving.

“Those knights were talking about—”

“Sorey and Mikleo are the subjects for a messed-up experiment, and it’s up to us to save them or at least stop whoever is going to seal their souls,” Zaveid interrupted. “I don’t need a rundown of all that’s happened. I’d rather not know yet.”

Edna grew irritated with him even though he wanted to help her find her Shepherd. Zaveid held out his hand to her as a gesture of friendship. She, in sharp contrast, wasn’t very interested in being his friend. Still, he knew Sorey, and it was very obvious that he wanted to make sure he was okay.

“Before we go, why are you here under a different Tower than what you can use?” she asked him.

“Just doing some recon. Yeah, I can’t use my Song Magic, but if you work with me, we can work out something...eventually.”

Again, Edna was displeased with his disregard for his inability to sing in Hyland territory. Nevertheless, she asked him to lead the way out of the tainted dungeon that was the Vivia Aqueduct underneath Ladylake.

While they ran together looking for the exit, she wondered just how he was going to use his Song Magic. Without a doubt, she knew that Zaveid the Exile could only sing under Frelia’s Tower unless he had found a way to sing under Eolia and possibly even Tilia. She was aware that such singing could only happen if the Hymmnos fit into one of two formats—over and with. Eizen had mentioned that he had once partaken in that type of Song Magic, describing it as a liberating experience. Could Zaveid have sung with him before? Her skin crawled as she imagined Zaveid and Eizen singing together. She ultimately decided that it could not have possibly sounded good.

They found the exit leading out of the aqueduct and into the distrcit, and once they were outside in the public eye, Zaveid immediately scooped Edna up to carry her over the houses and buildings of Ladylake. Since he had a large bounty on his head as a sneaky seraph and she was the rumored seraph of the mountain, it was best to remain out of reach. Edna wasn’t too happy, but she simultaneously didn’t mind being carried like a princess if it meant she didn’t have to ruin her boots stomping around the city.

He came to a stop just before the church’s courtyard atop one of the taller houses, and from there he saw Lailah walking into the church and two knights carrying her Sacred Blade behind her. She looked out of touch with reality. He wasn’t too surprised but wasn’t thrilled either given the grave situation.

“What is going on?” he asked himself. “Did they really get Lailah, too? They had to; she didn’t seem like herself.”

“Are we going or what?” Edna questioned him.

As much as he wanted to digest what he had witnessed, he touched down in the courtyard before the church. Unfortunately, the whole time he was standing on top of the building, the knights on patrol had been watching him, tracking him and coalescing down below to catch him. So when they had jumped down from the buildings, they were ready to approach them and recapture them.

“Nothing can be easy, huh?” Zaveid smirked.

“Well, you’re the one who decided to jump around in broad daylight,” Edna sighed.

“Let’s make this quick.”

“You got it, but remember we can’t kill them.”

“Yeah, not unless you want the entire city coming after you.”

\------------------------------------------------------

Mikleo panted rapidly; his body was still in critical condition from when the doctors had drained his body of two liters of his blood. He was barely conscious, which was where Bartlow wanted him for the implantation of Sorey’s soul. He was a sadistic man, but the screams of a seraph got annoying after a while; he had heard them so many times that he had gotten bored with them. Additionally, the first step was to isolate the seraphic mind from its body, and the aforementioned Electrocutioner finally arrived from the back entrance of the church flanked by two other guards. Sorey recognized this being, greeting him with shrieks of terror and sorrow and denial.

“ _Gramps! No, Gramps! What have you done to him?!_ ” he cried horrendously, frantically, angrily.

Zenrus had been one of the experiments that stemmed from the invasion of Elysia, and Bartlow had made him a key part of the Seraphoid Project thanks to the sheer power contained with him. Zenrus didn’t acknowledge Sorey’s existence or Mikleo’s. He didn’t respond to anything that wasn’t a direct command from Bartlow’s sagging mouth. He simply stared lifelessly through the long hairs of his eyebrows at the water seraph lying before him. He was emotionless even with his child struggling to survive.

“Sorey, how does it feel to be the first Shepherd that gets to participate in the Seraphoid Project?” Bartlow cackled. He averted his gaze over to Lailah, who had entered the church and was gracefully walking to the altar with the two knights carrying her Sacred Blade behind her. “Ah, the Vaccine has arrived.”

“Vaccine? What did you do to Lailah?!” Sorey demanded to know. “Lailah! Lailah, wake up!”

One of the knights whacked him across the head. He was stunned but not incapacitated; however, he willed himself to remain conscious. If he even closed his eyes, he was afraid that Mikleo, Zenrus, and Lailah would die in an instant.

“She can’t hear you, either, Shepherd. Her mind, while her own, has been subdued with other Seraphic Artes and Song Magic. She and that one over there are both puppets in all this. With their help, you will be at the forefront of my army, and together we will destroy Rolance.”

“Bartlow, please let Mikleo go. Let all of them go! They don’t deserve this. They’re going to die if you use them like this! Mikleo is…!”

Bartlow lifted his hand, rapidly flagging Zenrus and ordering that he use his lightning attacks on Mikleo. The old seraph wheezed before he produced a net of electricity from his hands. When he lifted his arms into the air, the bolts fired all at once at the seraph trying to stay alive.

Mikleo’s gritty screams echoed throughout the church. It didn’t matter how close to death he was to Bartlow as long as he served his purpose; and aside from conducting his experiments, Sorey presumed him to be a mad sadist. While the Shepherd, powerless to save his beloved seraph, tried his damnedest to block them out, the chancellor relished listening to the fresh cries and bellows all while Mikleo suffered. From where he was sitting on his knees, the brunet saw the tears streaming out of his eye either from the pain of the lightning coursing through his thin body or from the fear of a slow and painful death, or perhaps they were the results of both.

Bartlow commanded Zenrus to stop. Sustaining the electricity for too long would surely arrest Mikleo’s heart if it didn’t burn him considerably first. He needed the body functioning as best as possible. There was absolutely no room for error. He would never find such a compatible pair, so he couldn’t afford to lose this one.

“S-Sorey…!” Mikleo coughed. His body convulsed. “Sorey…Sorey…”

“Mikleo, hang on! I’ll save you!” Sorey fervently told him, but what could he do all tied up and pinned under the watchful eyes of the guards wielding clubs?

“Oh, you’ll save him, alright!” Bartlow laughed savagely.

Bartlow issued another period of shocks, and Mikleo screamed again. This time it sounded like he was being strangled. The old chancellor started to joke around asking if the shocks felt twice as bad because he was a water seraph and what would happen if they dumped water on him—would the pain be quadrupled? He delighted in seeing the seraph scrape his nails against the altar to the point they would peel off but be powerless to move away or stop the electricity. He ordered a stop again, a demonic grin on his lips.

“Stop doing this to him!” Sorey sobbed. “You’re hurting him! _He’s dying! Can’t you see that!?_ ”

“What do you think is the point? Seraphim are sub-human, worthless even compared to the trash of our society! They’re only good once they’ve been broken and rebuilt as fighting machines. All the ones that have died up to now weren’t strong enough, but this one and many others will be just the ones we need to crush Rolance! This one will lead us to absolute control of the land!”

Alisha woke from the noise. She was disoriented, only spotting Lailah in the midst of the chaos after a few moments. When she tried to call out to her, she was seized by the knights who had been waiting for permission to beat Sorey to death. She ordered them to let her go, but they didn’t obey nor say a word to her.

“Alright, Mighty Shepherd, answer this request and I’ll let both of you go. I want you to tell me your seraph’s true name.”

Sorey’s stomach dropped at the request. If Bartlow found out what Mikleo’s true name was, he would quickly be able to finish disconnecting him from the Tower. Mikleo’s life would end as soon as he was vulnerable to the Seraphoid’s power. If he learned of his true name, he could tear him to pieces from the inside.

“I refuse,” Sorey retorted.

“Boy, do you understand your position?” Bartlow warned him. He pointed at the panting, sweating, and crying mess that was Mikleo on the altar. “I hold his life in the palm of my hand.”

“I refuse to tell you his true name. I refuse to bear his precious soul to a rotten man like you.” He followed the old man’s arm to the altar. Was this the right thing to say?

With a snap of Bartlow’s fingers, one of the guards threw Sorey down on his stomach. He took his club in both hands, raised it far above his head over the chestnut-brown hair, and struck him hard at the base of his head. Sorey was overcome with a wave of dizzying pain and nausea, retching while trying to stabilize his vibrating skull. He knew that he was lucky to still be breathing; another blow like that to the same spot would most likely kill him, which meant that Bartlow would have to hold back.

“If you won’t tell me his name, then I’ll just have to ask the seraph himself, and if I have to beat him to a pulp in front of you, so be it.”

Bartlow marched up to the altar, where Mikleo struggled to keep his eyes open while panting for his life. Already confused, the water seraph’s Shepherd knew he was in no condition to comply with the insane demand. Sorey was still paralyzed from the strike as the old man loomed over the naked seraph he had abused. When Bartlow touched his face, Mikleo was startled.

“Young seraph of the water, what is your true name?” he asked almost too graciously for Sorey’s liking, but Mikleo just stared at the ceiling past him. “I’ll ask you again. What is your true name?”

Mikleo nudged his head side to side despite having so little strength. Bartlow’s words were garbled in his ears, his form only a dark silhouette in his eyes. If he made any noise, it was only little chirps. He couldn’t move his arms or legs, which felt severed from the rest of him.

“ _What is your true name?! Tell me!_ ”

“Mikleo, don’t say anything!” Sorey coughed. The guards roughly grabbed him by the arms and hair. “You don’t have to answer him!” They covered his mouth. “Mikleo, don’t say it!”

“I’m going to ask you one more time. What is your true name?”

Mikleo slowly turned his head to Sorey, and just as he did, Bartlow slammed his fist on his cheek. He was stunned for a moment until the old man hit him again and again. His weak sobs echoed; if Bartlow kept going, his face would be irreparable!

His gut twisting deep within, Sorey bit his lip before reluctantly conceding to him. He cried out the name, “ _Luzrov Rulay_ ”, and part of him hope that he could Armatize and flee. But Mikleo was so feeble now that his body wasn’t able to carry out the Armatization even if he just had to turn into light.

With a nasty grin, Bartlow repeated his name sinisterly:

“ _Luzrov Rulay._ ”

Mikleo’s heart pounded, and he contorted as if he were being invaded by his consciousness. He wheezed and whined, his body writhing in an unholy pain that was phantomic to his human. His head felt like it was being squeezed in a vice. Bartlow said the name two more times, observing the reaction worsen each time. If the Shepherd wasn’t the one saying it, it was almost like poison coursing through his veins instead of warmth and comfort.

Desperate to escape yet immobile, Mikleo hallucinated about crawling from the altar. If he could just get to Sorey, rest his head on his lap, then he’d have no problem letting go. He knew he didn’t want to die so far away from him even though he was only a few feet away. But the snakes that slithered from Bartlow’s mouth carrying his true name stabbed him in the back and chest. They kept reminding him that he couldn’t run away. Mikleo only sibilated the beginning of Sorey’s name.

Satisfied, Bartlow signaled for a third shock.

This time Mikleo didn’t have the energy to scream with every fiber of his being working as hard as possible to keep him alive. At most, air hissed through his mouth. His chest was throbbing; his heart jolted with excruciating pain, and he thought he was going into cardiac arrest. He had been shocked by Zenrus before, but he had never felt it even at half the amount of volts as Bartlow was forcing through him. When the shock ceased, he found that he could barely breathe and he felt lightheaded. There was a sudden smell of ammonia that stung his nose and a feeling of dread more intense than before overwhelmed him.

Sorey, forced to watch, saw a thin trail of blood leaking from his nose and mouth before the convulsions worsened. The overflow of electricity in his body had caused a seizure, which frightened him because he couldn’t do anything and the gagging sounds hurt to hear. It only lasted a minute, but it seemed like forever as he listened to him choke and sputter on his saliva.

“One more should do it if he’s seizing,” Bartlow said to himself. “Once he’s done with his little episode, we’ll wrap this up. One thing is for damn sure—these seraphim really can take a lot before kicking the bucket. This one is no different.”

It pained Sorey to see Mikleo in such a position. He whined helplessly, listlessly from atop the altar after the convulsions had subsided. Just as Bartlow ordered the fourth and final shock, the young Shepherd broke free from his binds after, out the desperation growing inside him, he wiggled his wrists apart enough to slip them off. He raced to the altar, throwing himself on top of him in a foolish attempt to protect him from the shocks. Unfortunately, electricity wasn’t like a current of water that could be deflected; he simply acted as a conductor albeit a weak one. The bolts flowed through him into Mikleo, whose painful cries rang in his ears. They were clear now that he was so close to him, and they were heart-wrenching. They didn’t sound like the cries of a seraph but of a defenseless animal simply wishing not to die. Sorey clenched his teeth. He didn’t want to give Bartlow the satisfaction of him reacting to pain; he couldn’t let Mikleo hear him give into the corrupted power of the government. He hugged him tightly as a way to divert some of the urge to scream. The malevolence was seeping into him. He wanted to vomit.

When the shock was called off again, Mikleo’s body was motionless and his eyes were fluttering. Sorey pushed himself up over him. Staring down at his placid face, he balanced himself on one hand then pulled the limp body up to his chest. He breathed hard, trying to calm himself so he would be comfortable inside of him.

“Go inside, Mikleo,” he whispered to him as he shook him. “Come on, I know you don’t like it, but you have to go now. Please, go inside! They’re going to hurt you!” He used all his strength to sit up as he clung to him. “Mikleo, come on! Please…please, go inside…please, tell me you’re okay…or say something…! Mikleo, wake up! Don’t fall asleep! Don’t leave me here alone!”

Wrought with grief, fearing the worst, he lay with him again on the altar. Bartlow didn’t pay him any mind as he prepared Lailah to fulfill her purpose even while the panicking brunet started examining Mikleo’s wounds. The slits from his wrists to halfway up his forearm were still bleeding despite the bandages—oversaturated with the crimson fluid and only reparable through extensive surgery or healing Artes—around them. He tried to press the wounds so they would stop, but blood just kept leaking through his fingers. While holding his wrists, Sorey leaned down to his chest, and he barely heard his heart desperately pumping what little blood he had left. He reluctantly let go of his wrists so he could compress his chest. Every few pumps, he forced air into him. His lips were both icy cold and extremely hot.

“Mikleo, you can’t die!” Sorey pleaded. “We have so much to do!”

“Sorey, you have to get away from there!” Alisha warned him, yelling louder than the malevolence swirling around.

“I’m not leaving his side!”

“Lailah, prepare the Vaccine! Commence singing **[your song]**!” Bartlow ordered amid their pleas to each other.

Lailah struggled briefly at first before opening her mouth. Her voice drowned out everyone else’s, even Mikleo’s spiritless wails and groans:

**[REDACTED LYRICS]**

Lailah’s voice didn’t waiver, yet something inside her was begging for help. She was singing against her own will.

**[REDACTED LYRICS]**

As if the electric shocks weren’t enough to elicit the water seraph and his Shepherd’s suffering, the song Lailah performed hurt them much worse. It cut into Sorey’s back and Mikleo’s chest, reaching into their bodies for their souls with searching hands and dripping teeth. Sorey clung to Mikleo and buried his face in his neck while trying to contain his cries of pain. Mikleo softly whimpered; a noose was around his neck and it was slowly closing in on him with each word of Hymmnos. His anxiety and fear multiplied exponentially with each second.

“I’m scared,” the water seraph whispered, or at least Sorey thought he heard those words.

“It’s okay,” Sorey said into his neck. “I’m right here. I won’t let go of you.”

Alisha tried her best to break free from the knights holding her. She was more worried about Lailah because she looked so uncomfortable and in pain. She remembered one of the lessons that Lailah had given her when she was young. The type of song she was singing was a Flip Song. Lailah said that any time a seraph sang a Flip Song, there was a high probability that the seraph would die because Flip Songs served to convert the very soul into a weapon. As a Vaccine, unknown to the princess knight, Lailah’s soul was to store both the seraph’s and the human’s souls, resulting in a collapse of her soul space. Knowing this, Alisha couldn’t bear to listen to her beautiful voice call for the death of her friends.

“Lailah, you’ve got to stop!” she yelled over her. But Lailah continued:

**[REDACTED LYRICS]**

“Geostigma!” a voice called from the entrance of the church.

A gravitational field opened up over Lailah, interrupting her song and essentially impeding its intended effect on Mikleo and, by proximity, Sorey. The latter lay motionless for a few seconds before finding the strength to push himself up when he felt something sharp sink into his back. At first there was no pain. Gradually, a burning sensation spread from the wound, almost like it was being cauterized. Zenrus was holding the Sacred Blade above them like an antenna to direct the Song Magic.

“Rock Lance!” Edna said. A large stalagmite stabbed one of the knights to wound him gravely, and Alisha wrenched her hands free from him.

The princess knight dashed to Lailah, who was trying to start her song again albeit with difficulty. She tackled her, covering her mouth so she wouldn’t sing. As long as she didn’t finish it, she wouldn’t lose her life. She could be saved.

“Who let you two go?!” Bartlow snapped.

“That’s the least of your worries,” Edna sighed. She spun her umbrella on her shoulder. “But if you must know, we let ourselves go. Once the public hears about what you’ve been doing to the seraphim, you’ll lose favor and most likely will be imprisoned.” She summoned a sharpened rock, holding it aimed at his neck.

“You think the people will side with you?”

“Nope, but they won’t be too happy to hear that they’ve been eating and drinking seraphim parts,” Zaveid countered.

The exiled seraph whipped up whirlwinds to push Zenrus back against the wall. He wasn’t going to hurt anyone without Bartlow’s orders, and with the old man preoccupied with Edna, he could focus on Sorey and Mikleo.

Bartlow spied Zaveid then let out a nasty laugh. He wouldn’t be imprisoned like they all thought. When he stopped his cackling, he nonchalantly told them, “How can I lose favor with the very same people that wouldn’t mind all of this? You seraphim really are foolish whelps; the people only care that their wishes and desires are granted. Once they see the finished product, they’ll be lining up to become Seraphoids!” He ordered Zenrus to shock Zaveid unconscious. Walking to the altar, roughly patting Mikleo and Sorey’s heads, he continued, “And the finished product of a Seraphoid using the Shepherd’s soul will give us so much power that Rolance will have no choice but to bow down to Hyland.”

Alisha cradled Lailah as she listened to his crazed speech. The fire seraph felt hotter than usual, and she worried that the Flip Song had already taken effect. Meanwhile Edna seethed with anger knowing that this was the man that had ordered her brother’s demise. She wanted to kill him, but she knew that if she did, her kind would be pushed to extinction.

Zaveid woke back up soon enough, but instead of taking advantage of his position to kill Bartlow, he snatched the Sacred Blade from Zenrus then grabbed up Sorey and Mikleo. He vaulted over the altar to join the other seraphim, where he noticed that the water seraph—normally cool to the touch—felt like he was on fire. They didn’t have time to listen to the prattling of a deluded callous chancellor, but they couldn’t very well just walk out of the church without being attacked. It was most important that they returned to Shurelia to enlighten her on what was happening outside her Tower.

“Go ahead and run, Zaveid the Exile and Shepherd Sorey,” Bartlow snarled. “My men will always be right behind you waiting to turn you into Seraphoids!”

Edna burned with the desire to kill him there without regard for her malevolence level. Revenge was the only thing she was willing to die for, but the wind seraph wouldn’t allow it. He needed her help to save Mikleo. He didn’t want to believe that he was letting them go, not after everything that had happened unless he knew that Lailah was useless now that she couldn’t fulfill her government-given purpose.

With nothing else to do with the chancellor; Zaveid, Edna, and Alisha escape the church and headed back to the aqueduct with the guards behind them. More patrols were no doubt combing the streets for them, so they couldn’t just run out of the city. The Vivia Aqueduct was a dead end leading back to Rountabel Palace, but it served as a good hiding spot for the time being. It offered the patrols a false sense of security that whatever hellions were lurking about in them would eat them.

Zaveid decided that once they were out of Ladylake, he would have the freedom to fully assess the damages, but until then he could give them a preliminary once-over. Edna and Alisha needed a break from the chaos, too.

The extent of his checkup was to make sure everyone was still breathing. Lailah had fallen into a deep sleep, and Sorey was breathing shallowly. Mikleo was a different story. He wanted to try and heal him with the little time they had to regroup, but he couldn’t risk making things worse while still in the belly of the beast.

“Mikleo,” Sorey rasped after the wind seraph had set them on the ground against the wall. Weakly, he took the water seraph’s hand. “Hang in there.” There was a serious bruise on his cheek where he had been struck. Edna watched, her cold heart swelling a little, as Sorey used every ounce of his strength to sit closer to him. Sorey lightly kissed the bruise before allowing himself to rest next to him. “I’m sorry I couldn’t protect you.”

That night after the stop in the aqueduct, the two seraphim and their only conscious human companion came out of hiding. They made a beeline for the gates under the darkness of the cloudy night sky, crossed the bridge, and found themselves in Lakehaven Heights. Finding refuge in the woods around Eolia, the wind seraph allowed his comrades the rest they needed. He was angry at humans, yet he knew there was nothing to gain from that hatred.

“I’m surprised you show so much interest in Sorey and his friends,” Edna said as she watched him lay them down. “Did you hear about him trying to save Eizen or other seraphim?”

“Just call it a hunch. Not very many humans have such a high resonance; the princess over there has a high resonance, too, but not nearly as high as this guy,” Zaveid replied.  
“Wish I could have been more helpful. I didn’t think the humans were crazy enough to shatter their only hope in the world.” He looked over at Alisha and Lailah. “Not to mention they’re willing to use the seraphim against each other. This is how more hellions are made—force them to do evil, and it swallows them up.”

“Eizen was in a similar situation after a point.”

“I know, and I’m sorry that I couldn’t help him back then.”

“It’s fine, I guess.”

Zaveid turned Sorey onto his stomach then lifted the back of his shirt up to see the wound from the Sacred Blade. It was a couple inches long and somewhat deep; it wasn’t life-threatening, however, since he wasn’t stabbed in conjunction with the Flip Song. Zaveid’s Rejuvenation Arte wasn’t very strong, but there was a noticeable difference when he used it on the wound.

Next he looked at Lailah. Alisha wasn’t too keen on letting him touch her, but he assured her that he wouldn’t do anything, especially since he was the one that named Sorey the new Shepherd. He asked her about the ceremonial garb and if she thought he was capable. She answered positively to both questions, and after that, he gave his conclusion on Lailah’s status:

“Whatever that fat old man did to her, it’s reset her soul space. Her mind guardian probably did it to preserve her soul in the event that the song did hurt her. Naturally, she’s in danger of accumulating enough malevolence right now to amass a Virus.”

Finally he came to Mikleo, whom he knew was in critical condition. Comparatively, his fever was substantially higher than Lailah’s. The coagulated blood that stained his nostril and cheek made him fear the worst; he’d never seen this level of brutality done to a seraph before. After he cleaned away the streaks of red on his face and tried to heal the cuts in his wrists, he prepared to carry him in his arms.

“We have to get to Shurelia pronto,” he said, though he didn’t sound very urgent. Edna was aware that he had seen seraphim succumb to Viruses before, but Alisha wasn’t sure if she should be sympathetic or irritated with him. “Lailah and Mikleo need her help.”

“What about the almighty Shepherd?” Edna asked. At Zaveid’s request, she carried him on a levitating mass of sod that was roughly his size.

Alisha, Edna, and Zaveid entered Eolia, climbing to the Symphonic Reactor seeking her help in fighting the Viruses inside the two seraphim. Sorey opened his eyes only halfway. His body was extremely fatigued from everything that had happened as well as from the damage sustained in the church, but his subconscious mind worried about Mikleo. He wasn’t laying next to him, and he began to wonder if they left him in the aqueduct.

Likewise, Alisha felt tired, her eyes heavy with sleep, but unlike Sorey, she had to push through to care for Lailah.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The title of the chapter will remain redacted until I can produce the songs. That said, I won't make you suffer through any more torture for a while, but yeah. Going to a forensics conference made me tweak all that happened slightly. I'm sorry I hurt these lovable boys... I've also realized that it's kind of like the humans reverted back to the days of exorcists and malaks in Berseria. Probably isn't a good idea to start this back up with such an intense chapter. I'll upload the next chapter ASAP.
> 
> If anyone could possibly help with UTAU and at least translate the install windows, it'd be greatly appreciated.


	16. Phase 1:  Rediscovering the Flame Within

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cosmosphere Level 4: Lailah  
>  _Ma num ra chs pic wasara mea,_  
>  _en fwal syec mea._  
>  _Was yea ra chs mea yor_  
>  _en fwal en chs hymme._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's been so long that I've looked at this chapter that I forgot a lot of what has happened aside from Chapters 14 and 15. Thankfully, it's not gratuitous torture and just some mildly creepy ish. (Still working on Chapter 15's song). Also, I've noticed in my two months of not working on this story that Alisha actually hasn't talked a lot in the past couple chapters.

Shurelia destroyed two more hellions that broke into the Tower through the Symphonic Reactor. When she heard the doors open and a myriad of footsteps behind her, she spun around with her Song Magic ready to execute whoever was intruding on her.

“Whoa, easy, Shurelia,” Zaveid nervously said. He put his hands up.

“Zaveid? What are you doing here?” she asked. Her tone wasn’t welcoming, but she wasn’t trying to scare him off either. If she wanted to, she could have easily used her Song Magic to shoot him out of the Tower.

The wind seraph explained to the Reyvateil all what had happened in the Ladylake Church. Edna and Alisha filled in on the prior events in Marlind, and when it came to detailing what happened to Mikleo, neither of them could speak for him. She didn’t need an explanation for him or Lailah in that matter. She was connected to both of them, and by this connection, she could tell that they were being ravaged from the inside by Viruses. Lailah had been resilient enough to establish a protective mind guardian long ago under the tender love and care that Alisha gave her, but Mikleo’s left a lot to be desired due to sheer inexperience with the brutality of humans. On top of Gaine’s maltreatment of the water seraph, she picked up that there were so many tragic and traumatic events that had led to a near collapse of his soul. Horrified that he was so close to dying, she asked to know why the humans would even consider doing something so barbaric.

“The fat old man running the city said something about a Seraphoid Project,” Zaveid answered. “What exactly that is, though, remains a mystery. As far as I know, Hyland is looking to force Mikleo to house Sorey’s soul to use in some war.”

“What would be the point?” Shurelia asked more to herself than to the others. “Don’t the humans know that results in instant death?” She looked at Sorey, who was still worn out from the torture he tried to save his seraph from.

The only way to save the compromised seraphim was to Dive and eradicate the Viruses from within. Any other action such as forcing the Virus out or killing them had an obvious undesirable outcome; she had seen something like this hundreds of years before. Shurelia turned to Alisha and the ailing Lailah.

“Are you bonded with the Lady of the Lake?” the Reyvateil asked. Alisha nodded. “Then you are the only one allowed to Dive into her, not to mention the only waking human here as well. I suspect that the Virus within her is a weaker one than the one inside of Mikleo, so you should be able to handle it yourself. Are you prepared to Dive into her?”

Alisha hurriedly yet gently laid the fire seraph on the floor. Holding Shurelia’s hands, she professed, “I’m always ready to help her.”

Zaveid handed her the Sacred Blade as Shurelia warned her that when she Armatized, she was going to donate half of her energy to Lailah’s recovery; this would temporarily blind her in the real world. It didn’t matter to Alisha as long as she could save her seraph. Following through with the Armatization, Alisha endured the pain in her abdomen. She had thought she’d fallen on the Sacred Blade, but she was merely feeling what Lailah was feeling.

The pain was nothing like she had experienced before. It burned more than a thousand degrees and tore through her like a spear. It sent out waves of nausea, and she was sure that her body was going to give out no matter how hard she willed herself to stay strong and endure it.

Within the soul space, Alisha found Lailah bound by tendrils of malevolence like chains. They were wrapped around her ankles and wrists and her neck. At first, she tried to pull them off. After realizing that the Virus had to be the one holding her down, she entered Lailah’s world with confidence that she was going to rescue her.

\-----------------------------------------------

Alisha had Dove into Lailah countless times, so she was used to seeing her mansion of baked sweets. All that remained in Lailah’s soul, however, was a large red crystal cut in the shape of a flame in the middle of a barren wasteland. Inside it, Lailah was naked and wounded; her princess even wondered if she was breathing.

“Lailah, can you hear me?” she asked her.

Lailah didn’t respond.

“Don’t worry; I’ll get you out of there!”

Alisha took her spear, stabbing it and chipping away grain-fine pieces of the crystal.

“N-No, stop!” a tiny voice came from behind. A dark-grey Normin wearing a gold and black samurai helmet ran up to Alisha’s leg. Lailah’s mind guardian, Atakk, was inconsolable. “You can’t break that crystal! Lailah told me to put her in there after the Virus attacked her! If you break her out, the Virus will surely eat her!”

Alisha took a step back first with terror then regret. If what Atakk said was true, then Lailah was trying to preserve herself as long as possible until help arrived. Ideally, when that help weakened the intruder enough, she would expel the Virus from her body, ultimately saving herself. Unfortunately, things weren’t so easy, and keeping herself locked inside of a fragile crystal made her more of a sitting duck than fighting against the Virus. It was up to the princess to save her seraph.

Alisha drew her spear to her side with determination. She declared that she would hunt down the monster on her own. The greed and hatred that brewed in her city was her fault, she believed, and it was her duty to stamp it out so that it wouldn’t hurt the one she loved the most. That was what started the mess.

“Atakk, I will need your help,” Alisha sternly told it. “Lady Shurelia said that I could fight this Virus on my own since Lailah didn’t feed into it, but I might need a little more fire power to make sure I can kill it quickly.”

“Lady Alisha, I know you want to save your beloved seraph, but—”

“We don’t have time! Please, grant your power unto my weapon! I have to kill the Virus!”

Atakk blessed its Normin power onto the spear before its wielder ventured out into the wasteland. There were no crumbs left behind from the cake house, which made it seem like the Virus was like a black hole sucking up everything it could find. Weak or not, if she didn’t take care of it, it would cause Lailah’s soul space to implode on itself.

But where was this monster that threatened her treasured seraph’s life? Nothing could go beyond where Alisha was since Lailah had placed herself under arrest and greatly reduced the area of the soul space. She spent hours and hours wandering around the tiny island until she gave up on the idea of the crystal being a shield.

“I have to destroy the crystal,” Alisha reluctantly said as she returned to Lailah. “Even if she wanted to be in there, I can’t just believe it’s to protect her."

Despite Atakk’s pleas, Alisha swallowed her fear. She raised her spear and prepared to shatter it, but just as she swung, the Virus appeared in front of her as if to shield the crystal. It took some damage from the swing, yet it was still raring to fight.

“Is this thing sentient?” she mumbled. “Why did it protect her?”

The Virus seemed to speak in bursts of static noise. It couldn’t enunciate. The only words that she could understand were “evil” and “opportunists”. The malevolence coming off of the Virus formed thorns around the crystal as a deterrent. Perhaps the crystal was made by the Virus and wasn’t protecting Lailah but was to imprison her within herself.

The Virus roared, charging at her with its horn ready to pierce her heart. Alisha stepped back and parried it only to be blown aside by the resonance between their blades. She began to doubt that she could kill the Virus like how Shurelia had said.

“No, I have to do away with it!” she coached herself. “If I don’t kill it, Lailah will die and become a hellion. I cannot allow that to happen!”

Alisha took a breath. She faced the Virus head on, wrapping it in a combo and leaving no room for error. Her expert moves prevented escape and attack. Once she had pounded and slashed enough at it, she unleashed the Mystic Arte that she had practiced every day since she met Lailah to perfect it.

“Light Blast!” she cried out.

A flurry of stabs from her spear perforated the Virus, the light of her resonance with the seraphim tearing it apart. The Mystic Arte, however, wasn’t enough to completely subdue it. Even though it was gravely wounded, it made use of its last resort to kill her. It lunged at her again, this time sliding behind her and puncturing through her armor into the back of her leg. With her rendered motionless, it believed it would finally get to eat her and absorb whatever power she had.

“Normin Power!” Atakk called out suddenly.

Alisha’s spear blade doubled in size yet remained lightweight. She swung it behind her, slicing through the Virus once more but it still wouldn’t die. Instead it ran around her looking for a vulnerable spot, and it lunged again. It bit her leg and tore it open. Taking this chance, Alisha stabbed its head and almost splitting it in two. She held her spear in its skull until it loosened its grip. She tossed the Virus’s corpse aside, where it disappeared without a trace from the soul space.

Alisha pressed on her wound before spreading peach gel over it. She knew that the wound was only a perceptual injury; once she de-Armatized from Lailah, her leg would be fine. At most, it would feel like there was a cramp in it. Still, it was harrowing to look at.

“Lailah will be safe now,” she smiled tiredly at Atakk. The injury was getting to her.

“Well, she’ll be fine when these thorns are gone. That nasty ol’ Virus is still trying to break her with these thorns. If they don’t clear out, Lailah won’t be able to wake up. Our precious and beautiful Lailah will be locked away forever!”

Alisha let out a sigh to help her get through the pain in her leg. She spun her spear around, cutting the thorny vines with a windmill-like motion. She made herself a path through them, and as she neared the fiery crystal containing her dear Lailah, she wondered how she would break the crystal to liberate her. When would her soul space revert to what it was before the infection? Before they had met?

That was when she realized that her soul space had already reverted when she was put through her repurposing training. Atakk confirmed it. It explained after Bartlow had forced her to learn the Flip Song, she had shut off the deepest levels of her soul to keep the song from having a stronger effect. In doing this, it would have taken more time to extract Mikleo and Sorey’s souls from their bodies, thus giving her more time to act against the chancellor. The reversion had also resulted in her soul being easily attacked by the Virus that had developed during that time albeit it was not terribly damaged.

“Poor Lady Lailah tried her hardest so she wouldn’t hurt anyone,” Atakk said dejectedly. “She was so worried about everyone, and about you, Lady Alisha.”

“I know,” Alisha smiled gently. She touched the crystal as she peered inside at the beautiful Lady of the Lake sleeping within. “Poor thing, you must have been so scared, but everything is okay now. I’ve gotten rid of the Virus, so now you can come out,” she whispered. She kissed the fiery-red crystal.

The crystal cracked under her gloved hand. The crack spread all over until finally it shattered, disintegrating into dust. Lailah gracefully fell into Alisha’s arms, where she slept peacefully for a few more minutes then woke up; her wounds miraculously healed within seconds of her liberation. At first, she seemed confused by Alisha’s presence since she had no recollection of agreeing to a Dive. Alisha simply kissed her forehead then briefly explained all that had happened. Naturally, the fire seraph became flustered, but Atakk reassured her that it and Alisha made sure there was no real damage within her soul space or to anyone involved as far as she was led to believe.

Slowly, the scenery of Lailah’s soul space regenerated, and the two girls were allowed to access the Stonehenge. Atakk watched as a light shined and a Paradigm Shift became possible. After passing from this level, Lailah would have to reinstate her Silver Flame ability in the next one. Alisha wanted to do it right away, but Lailah forbade it.

“Alisha, you just fought against a Virus—a pure manifestation of the malevolence!” she scolded. “I won’t allow you to go through two levels in that condition. Besides, don’t you want to see how Sorey and Mikleo are doing?”

“But are you okay? You’ve been through a lot yourself.”

“I’ll be fine. We need to be there in the real world to support them.”

Lailah offered her a warm smile. She was delighted that her human had Dove into her to save her life, even if it was without her consent. She could overlook it since it was a dire situation, but it only reminded her to tell Mikleo that he was allowed to kick Sorey out of him if he wished. She became worried.

“You said that Mikleo had a Virus, too, correct?” she asked. “If the Virus that was inside of me was considered weaker by Lady Shurelia and if Mikleo is in critical condition, I fear that his life is in great danger. Alisha, we must hurry.”

Lailah took Alisha’s hand, and the two headed into the light.

\-------------------------------------------------------------

Alisha de-Armatized from Lailah, and as she had predicted, her leg felt much better than inside of Lailah’s soul. Lailah’s fever had gone down as well, and before long she was wide awake. While they had been conducting the Dive, Sorey had already gone inside of Mikleo, who was still in danger of succumbing to all the torture he had endured. Zaveid, not skilled in Rejuvenation Artes, kept using whatever Artes and Song Magic he knew to sustain him. Shurelia was also working to keep him alive with little songs. The only one not there was Edna.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this chapter is a mix of Ar Tonelico 1 and Ar Tonelico 3. Why? Because honestly I liked the idea of Saki having to sing EXEC_FLIP_ARPHAGE/. and then having cognitive dissonance and then having something like what happens to Aurica/Misha when singing EXEC_PAJA/. Also it's still slowly turning out to be the plot line for Berseria, so guess who has to rethink where this story when she hasn't thought it out in its entirety?!


	17. Phase 1:  True Feelings towards Humans

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With Lailah now out of danger, Sorey Dives into Mikleo to save him from the Virus inside of him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There's a little bit of Tainted!Mikleo in there. This chapter in its entirety is based on Phase 1 Ending for AT1, but it's not the ending to the story's Phase 1!

While Alisha had been inside of Lailah, Sorey willed himself back into decent enough shape to take care of his fading seraph. He had slid off Edna’s bed of mud, tumbling a little from the dizziness brought on by fatigue and the blow to the back of his head from the knight’s club. Mikleo had gone for some time without having any sort of medical treatment, so naturally Sorey was afraid that he had passed during the trek to Eolia. Miraculously, there was still a heartbeat. It was faint and quick, almost superficial, but it was there. He wasn’t going to last much longer; the worried Shepherd listened to his breathing, which was little more than tiny gasps. His lips were darkening, his eyes turning pale and sinking a little.

He hastily locked lips with him, forcing as much of his breath into his lungs before setting to work compressing his chest to keep his heart going. He wasn’t going to let him die. Mikleo couldn’t die!

“Hang in there, Mikleo!” Sorey half-whispered to him.

While Zaveid was somewhat surprised to see just how much the sorry sight of the water seraph was affecting his master, he couldn’t do much to help him. His Rejuvenation Arte, which he used a couple more times, wasn’t enough to completely close the veins sliced through deep in his wrists, but Edna was a little more skilled. She used whatever she knew repeatedly until it looked like there was some progress. The wounds healed, but whether or not Mikleo could recover was debatable. They weren’t even sure if all that Sorey was doing would help him.

Shurelia watched them. Having been out of touch with humans for so long, she forgot that there were ones as caring as Sorey. She felt Mikleo’s soul becoming more radiant within the connection she shared with him, yet it would take more than just emergency resuscitation techniques to fully restore him.

Sorey checked his breathing and his heart again. They weren’t getting any better, causing his stomach to drop. Was Mikleo really not going to make it?

“Sorey, I think now would be a good time to Dive into him,” Zaveid suddenly suggested. “He won’t get better with that Virus still crawling around inside of him.

“I don’t have his Sacred Bow,” Sorey quietly said.

“But I do!”

Zaveid, who had implemented some mysterious Song Magic well before rescuing Edna to avoid detection while inside the palace, unveiled a satchel carrying not only Mikleo’s Sacred Bow but also his clothes. Edna was dubious. Zaveid couldn’t use his Song Magic within Shurelia’s domain, so how did he manage to do it?

“That’s a story for a later time, yeah?” He handed the bow to Sorey and withheld the clothes. “Getting him dressed is the least of your worries for now.”

Using the Sacred Bow, Sorey prepared to Armatize with his water seraph, but Shurelia stopped him. She told him her prediction of the Virus inside and that if it was impeding his ability to recover so drastically, then it was something much stronger than a regular hellion or even the type of Virus that Lailah had.

In case of drastic measures, there was a way to bring reinforcements into the soul space of an ailing seraph. Sorey recalled when he had first Dove into Edna, she told him to expel Mikleo from his body. If she hadn’t ordered him to do so, Mikleo would have had access to her soul by proxy of Sorey. The same logic was going to be used here; Shurelia gave permission to Edna to go inside of Sorey before he Armatized, and by doing so she would be able to be with Sorey as he took care of the problem. In the meantime, she would try and offer support from the outside.

Sorey, of course, was apprehensive about letting Edna wander with him in Mikleo’s soul, and she seemed to take offense to it. She meant well, but she did admit to having a mischievous streak. She went inside demanding that she go simply to prove that she wouldn’t do anything to harm him. With Shurelia’s reassurance, he Armatized with Mikleo. It wracked his body with unbearable pain, and what he found inside of the shared soul space wasn’t anything like he was expecting.

It was dark like the essence of pure malevolence, swirling around above them like a hurricane. It was warm and stagnant, almost suffocating to stand in.

 _“What is going on?”_ Sorey questioned with horror.

 _“The Virus is slowly corrupting his soul, eating it from the inside out,”_ Edna explained. _“It’s only a matter of time before the storm reaches its full potential. That means we’ve got a time limit to save him. And speaking of him, there he is.”_

Mikleo lay far ahead of him, his limbs unceremoniously tossed around his body. To Sorey, it looked like he had been thrown around like garbage, which wasn’t too far from what he thought had probably happened to him before he was brought to the Church’s sacrificial “Altar of the Sacred Blade”. His face looked too peaceful for the damages happening deeper inside. Edna and Sorey initiated the Dive into Mikleo’s soul.

\-----------------------------------------------

Mikleo’s soul space was dark like the shared soul space that came from the Armatization, but there was an unbearable heat and the rancid stench of death. Edna confirmed that he was alive—barely—because they were able to get in; if he was dead, they would be, too. The scenery was similar to the previous level except that the houses from Elysia were old and decrepit, little more than weathered pebbles and stones. The little snowman that Mikleo had made was melted. When Sorey saw its shrinking puddle, he felt a strange, ominous sense of foreboding. Something was thirsting for blood within Mikleo.

“Look up there,” Edna said as she pointed with the tip of her umbrella.

The green gem that had been in the first level of the soul space was floating about the barren land. Just like how Lailah was encased in a crystal of fire, Mikleo was trapped in the gem of his circlet, but unlike Lailah, he wasn’t put there of his own free will. His face was scrunched up in pain as if the gem was hurting him considerably. It glowed in quick pulses. Faint omnipresent whispers echoed:

“I’m sorry…I’m scared…I’m in pain…I want to die…why did this happen?”

Sorey’s eyes trailed down to a figure standing underneath the gem. It looked exactly like Mikleo; the only difference was his attire. Instead of cerulean with white and gold trimmings, it was white with cobalt and silver accents. His eyes were the opposite of the critical but loving eyes of his water seraph. These alexandrite eyes were full of contempt.

“Mikleo?” Sorey cautiously said. He took a step towards him until he felt a jab in his back.

“Be careful, dummy,” Edna warned. “I’m not getting a good feeling from him.”

The Mikleo that stood before them frowned at them then bared his teeth. He summoned his staff, almost preaching to them, “Stupid human, do you think you can save the seraphim?”

“Excuse me?” Sorey answered, terribly confused that he would say something so harsh. “Mikleo, how can you say that? We share the same dream, don’t we?”

“Humans and seraphim can never coexist; humans are incapable of caring for the seraphim. Humans are so full of greed, so full of hatred for the seraphim. Why should the seraphim live in harmony with the humans? Humans should be wiped out. Seraphim should rule the world.” Mikleo began casting a Seraphic Arte. “I shall pioneer the eradication of all humans!”

Edna grabbed Sorey’s hand, initiating her Armatization. At first, he was confused why and how she Armatized with him, but she was already developing a plan.

“Are you going to kill me, Sorey?” Mikleo suddenly asked in fear. “Please—I don’t want to die.” He continued to cast the Seraphic Arte.

“Edna, we can’t!”

 _“You idiot,”_ Edna said telepathically. _“It’s pretending to be him.”_

After flinging a few rocks at him, she exposed the Mikleo in front of them as the Virus. It had taken residence in Mikleo’s soul and was nothing more than a monster masquerading as the water seraph they knew. The Virus had integrated itself into the soul space, thus mimicking Mikleo in every way it could; it was remarkably intelligent since it figured out that it could tap into the sentimentality of humans. Because of the integration, attacking it would hurt Mikleo, and since he was already on the verge of death, it was something they couldn’t afford to risk. They would have to separate it from the soul space before taking care of it. But how could they do it without injuring the real Mikleo who was already having his life drained?

 _“How familiar are you with Shurelia’s power?”_ Edna asked.

“Not very; the author of the Celestial Record never got the chance to research the power of the Origin Reyvateils,” Sorey admitted.  
_“Then I’ll inform you of what I know. Shurelia’s magic operates in a special field called the Binary Field, which exists within the Tower. This means that she can enact powerful Song Magic that we normal seraphim can’t use. While this is an educated guess, it might not be far from what she’s really doing—she’s anticipated that this Virus is going to be a hassle and is going to try and wedge the Virus loose from Mikleo’s soul.”_

“So we have to wait for Shurelia to do whatever it is she has to do?”

_“Yup. Get ready.”_

It was easier said than done. The Virus Mikleo unleashed an onslaught of Seraphic Artes that it had copied from the soul space. It threw bursts of water at Sorey, but thanks to Edna’s affinity for earth and rock-like gauntlets, he was somewhat protected. The attacks were still plenty powerful, and it wouldn’t have taken a lot to kill him if Edna wasn’t able to deflect and dodge them.

Since Sorey wasn’t particularly skilled at fistfights, the little earth seraph guided his hands. She battered the Virus, raising pillars of rock and throwing them around after smashing them into boulders. Sorey made her restrain herself so she didn’t hurt Mikleo, which she wasn’t too happy about; restraint meant less strength which meant that the Virus still had a chance to fight back and possibly kill them. Then, just as the Virus prepared to cast another Seraphic Arte, Sorey and Edna heard Shurelia’s voice echo throughout Mikleo’s soul space:

_Wee i ga flip 0x1011001101 yor enter Ar Tonelico_

The Virus Mikleo screeched in pain. He dropped his staff, holding his head in his hands and in a flash of light, the true form of the Virus was revealed as it was fundamentally separated from the soul space. It was titanic, standing three times Sorey’s height. The size of the Virus that was going to turn Mikleo into a hellion if they couldn’t stop it took Sorey by surprised, and he wondered if they really had the strength to defeat it. He rectified his thinking—now wasn’t the time to second-guess his abilities. Mikleo was depending on him not only in the soul space but in the real world.

“Okay, Edna, let’s do this!” he said.

The Virus roared, charging at him with lightning speed. Edna didn’t have speed, which gave the enemy an upper hand. Nevertheless, speed alone wasn’t going to be the deciding factor in the battle.

“Iron Curtain!” Sorey and Edna said together as pillars of rock shot up in front of them to make both a barrier and a lever. The Virus staggered back. “Scrap Toss!” they called out as they threw a boulder at the Virus.

The Virus regained its balance before firing a laser at them. It shot Sorey directly in the chest. Somehow it forced them to separate into their individual bodies, greatly diminishing their attack power.

“Edna, keep it busy! I’ll look for an opening!” Sorey commanded, the pain radiating in his chest.

Edna established her triggers all around the Virus. The ground was a minefield of rocks waiting to pierce through its armor. While she waited, Sorey sprinted around until he found a blind spot on the Virus’s back. This blind spot led straight to the core of the Virus; one stab was all he needed to kill it.

“Sonic Thrust!” Sorey yelled. He dashed up close to the Virus, and in what seemed like slow-motion, leapt over it. With this attack, Mikleo would be free!

“Sorey, watch out!”

The Virus, aware of its weak point, spun around. It deflected the attack then swatted him away with its hind legs. The attack sent a dizzying pain through his body until he noticed that he was bleeding profusely from his head. Edna unleashed her traps, and as the rocks shot up in a domino effect, she tended to Sorey’s wounds after Armatizing with him again.

“Fairy Circle!” they called out together. A large magic circle appeared under them with lotuses opening and light sealing the wound.

The Virus stumbled around, giving Sorey the time he needed to catch his breath. The Shepherd glanced up at the crystal, where Mikleo slept troubled but unaware of the battle playing out underneath him. He had to wonder if he felt any of the shockwaves from the fight up there or throughout his soul space.

_“You can think about your boyfriend later. We’re still in this. Keep your head in the game.”_

“We’re running out of time, Edna.”

_“What are you talking about? We’re almost done with this big loser.”_

“No, it’s starting to collapse.”

The edges of the soul space were beginning to crumble away, something that Sorey hoped he’d never have to see in either of his seraphim. If the damage advanced too far, then Mikleo was done for. He would be reduced to a vegetable unable to reconnect to the Tower before dissipating into light. He didn’t want him to end up like Uno.

_“I’m telling you, it’s fine. We’ve got our ace. Let me guide you.”_

Edna carried Sorey up close to the Virus. It was going for a smash attack, but Edna unleashed the power she had been hiding. Calling upon it, she unleashed a series of rocket punches so strong that it shattered the Virus’s armor into millions of dust-like shards. Before the final punch, she roared out:

_“Divine Basalt Blow!”_

The Virus rumbled at first, and she leapt to safety before de-Armatizing from Sorey. A shockwave shook the soul space as the enemy imploded on itself; in its wake was a small floating light which Sorey hurriedly ran to. Suspicious of it, he tapped it gingerly with his gloved hand.

As if that light was the key, the green gem holding Mikleo liquefied into water, and the seraph that had been locked away gently floated down into his arms. When Edna joined Sorey’s side, she found that he was rather sickly-looking. Sorey set him on the ground before pulling out an apple gel to help him regenerate some strength.

At first he held it to his lips with the hope that the aroma would wake him up. When Mikleo didn’t move, he pressed it to him. Still no response. Beginning to panic, Sorey put the apple gel away before shaking the seraph and lightly slapping his face with the back of his hand. He listened to his chest for his heart and any evidence of breathing. He heard the slow, quiet thumps yet his chest wasn’t moving. Sorey was prepared to resuscitate him, but Edna stopped him.

“Healing Circle,” she calmly said. A magic circle opened up around them with swirls of light specks flying up above them.

The water seraph erupted into a fit of coughing until he hacked up the water that he had been suspended in. He tiredly opened his eyes. “S-Sorey?” he quietly murmured. “Edna?”

“Mikleo! I’m so happy you’re alive!” Sorey wept. He hugged the naked slender seraph then brushed his blue-gradient hair from his cheeks and eyes so he could hold his face. “How do you feel?”

“Sleepy, but grateful.”

Edna twirled her umbrella in her hands with a light blush on her cheeks. It wasn’t that he was nude but that he was thankful for their help. She told Sorey to hurry up and see about him so he could start fixing his soul space. She wanted to leave.

Sorey stroked his hair as the world rebuilt itself—the village of Elysia was back to normal along with the snowman, and the peaks of Rayfalke Spiritcrest once again formed the border of the soul space. Gaine was somewhere in the soul space, but Sorey wasn’t too worried about it given how he had treated him.

Edna gave them their space. Mikleo peered up at Sorey with a tired smile while the latter rocked him gently just happy that he could hear his voice devoid of agony and gaze upon on his tranquil face.

“Sorey, how can I ever repay you?” Mikleo quietly asked.

“With a lifetime supply of your homemade ice cream!” Sorey laughed. “I’m kidding; you don’t have to repay me. I’m just doing my job as your Shepherd and your—”

“Sorey, can we get going? At this point, I’m overstaying my welcome at this point,” Edna complained. She was kicking the frost off her boots. “If I stay here too long, I’ll probably die.”

Sorey carried Mikleo to the Stonehenge once it was back where it was supposed to be. He still worried about him, but Edna did have a point. Even though Gaine was still out of commission somewhere in the soul space, Sorey proceeded through the light with his seraphim. As soon as he did, he was transported out of Mikleo’s soul.

\--------------------------------------

Edna separated from Sorey as he lay on the ground next to Mikleo with the Sacred Bow in his hand. Alisha and Lailah were sitting together asleep while Shurelia and Zaveid welcomed her back.

“So, how was this kid’s soul space? Find anything juicy?” Zaveid egged with a sly smile.

“Zaveid, you should know that you can’t ask such a question,” Shurelia scolded.

“I’m joking! Kind of.”

Edna cleared her throat, averted her eyes, and simply said, “Exactly what you’d expect from these two…not that you know how they are.”

Zaveid snickered as he thought up all the different connotations for what that meant from the entirety of the soul space being a whole shrine dedicated to Sorey to a pitiful little box for a lost kitten to wait for his master.

Shurelia watched over the two humans. It would be a while before they woke. After all, they had fought to the death with monsters that threatened their seraphim, and by proxy of them, their own lives. Observing them, she saw how Alisha and Lailah’s fingers were intertwined while Sorey had his arm over Mikleo’s narrow waist. Even if she had been out of the loop for centuries, it warmed her heart to see that there was a chance for humans and seraphim to live together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had to reference Aquagon's translation for the code that Shurelia uses to disconnect Mikleo from the Virus (Aurica/Misha in Phase 1) and it turned out that not only that I couldn't read it from the let's play screen but it was incorrect. So many thanks to Aquagon! :D


	18. Phase 1: Miasma within Mikleo

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Viruses in both Lailah and Mikleo have been eradicated, but Mikleo is completely different than before, leaving Sorey severely handicapped.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> LONGEST. CHAPTER. EVER. THIS WAS LIKE 10 to 11 PAGES.

Sorey and Alisha woke up before Mikleo and Lailah with the former feeling particularly groggy. While Alisha allowed Lailah to sleep on her lap, Sorey stretched over Mikleo to get a look at his face and determine whether or not he was still fighting for his life. The water seraph looked oddly blurry—much more so than before when his face was only slightly fuzzy. Now, he only saw a blob in front of him that lay too still for his liking. Unable to see, Sorey slowly and gingerly touched him.

Zaveid and Edna watched from the other side of the room with Shurelia, who would occasionally sing to fend off any hellions trying to break into the Symphonic Reactor. All three of them weren’t surprised that he was fumbling around; Edna had a hunch that something like this would happen sooner or later. The strain placed upon the human body when they formed pacts was something Eizen had always talked about. It was exceptionally hard when two or more seraphim were using the same vessel or if a seraph had sustained heavy damage.

“Mikleo must never know, but his injuries and condition are the reason for Sorey’s debilitation,” Shurelia had told them shortly before the Shepherd had awakened. “This is a rare phenomenon, but if a seraph is too heavily damaged and they have a vessel, the vessel deteriorates quicker. In dire cases, the vessel may even die as a result of the seraph taking all of the vessel’s energy.”

It was clear that the deterioration had accelerated in Sorey, but they couldn’t help but wonder if it was only temporary. The Viruses within Mikleo and Lailah had been taken care of, and Lailah was already recovering, granted she hadn’t been beaten, drained of her blood, and shocked to the edge of death like the poor water seraph. With him, it was much harder to tell since most of the trauma had come from the bloodletting. Having his heart beating out of control on top of the Virus destroying his soul from the inside was far too much for any normal human to bear. Of course, Sorey was Mikleo’s chosen human, their bond strong and unbreakable. Perhaps it was that bond that propagated the regeneration, making Sorey to see less instead of dying in his sleep beside him. Still, being the Shepherd, such disabilities had the risk of making him incredibly vulnerable, and it was this that Mikleo couldn’t learn about or else he would blame himself.

“Hopefully he can recover from Meebo’s injuries,” Edna said. “The Virus really did a number on his soul. Additionally from the outside, I’m surprised he was able to stand that lightning seraph’s attacks. Zenrus was once an incredibly powerful seraph.”

“Hmm, that was something that I wanted to ask about actually,” Zaveid muttered. “Lady Shurelia, have you heard about the Seraphoid Project?”

Shurelia shook her head.

“Guess only a few individuals out there know about it.”

“Care to explain?” Edna asked.

“It’s a cockamamie plot of merging humans and seraphim to create hybrids. I haven’t learned too much since I’m busy trying not to get caught myself, but to think there are humans that are that crazy.”

Edna played with the mascot attached to her umbrella. “And with Sorey being the Shepherd and Mikleo being his primary seraph, that old man thought he could merge them. It sounded like they were raring to put him to work after the fusion, so it’s probably a good thing we intervened when we did.”

“That’s not a surprise. The surprise is how much they put Mikleo through for the sake of this stupid experiment. Torture like that…it’ll take time for him to regain himself.”

Shurelia took a break from battling intruders, reflecting on the topic at hand. She couldn’t tell them that she had been so busy with the hellions lately that she didn’t notice when the project had started nor the amount of Seraphoids created since then. It would take some time to figure out which connections were fabricated from the experiments.

Lailah woke up in Alisha’s lap with a slight headache. She didn’t remember much of what happened—only that she had been forced to learn the song meant to remove their souls. She had no recollection of her actually singing or the pain she had caused Mikleo and Sorey, though the last part was better left forgotten in retrospect. Alisha was overwhelmed that she was okay and kissed her cheeks as much as she could. She was still suffering from lending her some of her energy to heal herself aside from the cramp in her leg, but it didn’t matter because the beautiful fire seraph was still alive and with her.

Mikleo still had yet to wake up, and Sorey’s eyes weren’t getting any better. He felt uneasy, mumbling, “How could they do this to a seraph?”

Alisha glanced at the sleeping Mikleo as Sorey pulled him up into his arms; by the look of his face, he was happy that he could hold him yet still shaken that he had been terribly abused. Nothing she said would make him feel better, but Lailah asked if she could try healing him. Reciting the words of her healing incantations, a purple light illuminated her hand. She passed it over his chest and wrists.

“We’ve got to stop Bartlow from doing this to other seraphim,” Sorey stated as he watched the fire seraph use her magic on the water seraph. “He’s already taken our family. I refuse to let him hurt anyone else—human or seraph.”

Mikleo roused when he had declared to put an end to Bartlow’s activities, but contrary to how he was within his soul space, he was rigid and trembling. Sorey peered down at him. He couldn’t see how scared he looked—only feel his shivering body in his arms. Edna, Zaveid, and Shurelia feared the worst; Mikleo was traumatized by what had happened so deeply that he was associating what happened with all humans including the only one he loved with all his heart. But Sorey didn’t mind. He offered a smile to him, gently squeezed his arms, then let him run away from him.

Mikleo’s soul space had been scarred, so it wasn’t a huge surprise that he was reacting that way. The Shepherd only wished that he still sing for him whenever he wanted to practice. Deep down inside, he knew, his songs were going to be weak and broken, but he wanted to listen to his voice. He wanted to hear what his voice sounded like when it wasn’t crying and in pain.

Mikleo clung to Lailah when he saw Alisha, who put up her hands to show she meant no harm. “Lailah…please, don’t let them do anything to me,” he begged her. “Humans…are…”

“It’s alright,” Lailah comforted. “Sorey, remember how I said that pacts can strain humans? I don’t know what happened to Mikleo, but it was severe. Because of that, your body is going to be compromised for a while not only from your pacts but—”

“That’s okay. If he needs more help, I’m willing to sacrifice my life for him.”

The atmosphere was bleak in the Tower now that Mikleo had awoken as a different seraph for the time being, yet the question of having Zaveid joined their group arose. Sorey, knowing that Bartlow was intending to use him for the Seraphoid Project, wanted to ask him to join him. Zaveid declined, telling him that he preferred to be out in the open. If he was cooped up inside of him, how would he gain information about the project? Not to mention that a third seraph at this moment would be the same as drinking poison.

Shurelia agreed with him. She offered the ultimatum that if he wasn’t going to join Sorey in his mission to stop the Seraphoid Project and the enslavement of seraphim, then he would have to operate undercover. She wanted to know more about the project so she could spot the false connections and terminate them. It would prevent her from expending energy and allowing humans to infiltrate Eolia, but it meant that she would be aiding in the deaths of thousands of innocent people.

With his new mission, Zaveid left. He was leaving Sorey and Alisha to return to their task in Marlind—quell as much of the malevolence as they could in order to Dive into Edna and Mikleo then bring down the dragon that was generating it. With Lailah with them and out of harm’s way for now, they had more than enough hands ready to help the people of Marlind and the seraphim that yearned for freedom.

\-----------------------------------------------------------

The benefits of actively trying to reduce the malevolence in the village were obvious. Something as trivial as catching the book thief caused the malevolence to decline a decent amount. They still had to apprehend the monster that chased them in museum, and they were sure that once they stopped it, a larger amount would disappear. But despite all this, it was still extremely risky to let Mikleo, Edna, and now Lailah remain outside. The villagers, too, would most likely be on the lookout for them; in fact, how were they going to make it back without being arrested again? Mikleo was still against the idea despite the dissonance created from the trauma, and no amount of scolding from Lailah or Edna would change his mind.

“I don’t want to go inside a human,” Mikleo argued near one of the gates out of sight from the village people. “I don’t want to get hurt like that again.”

“Meebo, do you ever just do as you’re told? Staying inside will guarantee your safety, dummy,” Edna retaliated.

“Edna’s right,” Alisha chimed in though ignoring the dummy comment. “And besides, I’m sure you’re still tired.”

“So what if I am? I don’t want to be inside of a human. Humans are horrible creatures.”

Sorey glanced over towards the center of the village. It didn’t matter if Mikleo obeyed and went inside, the villagers knew their faces. How would they make it to the museum without being noticed? Then he got an idea.

Taking Mikleo’s hand, Sorey told Alisha and the seraphim, “You all can stay out, but we’ll hide until late tonight. Fighting in the dark is a handicap, but we’re less likely to be seen again.”

Lailah gazed at Sorey’s hand that was gently squeezing Mikleo’s with trepidation. It wasn’t within her right to know what had happened within Mikleo’s soul space, and she only had a vague memory of all that happened after she started singing the accursed song. She had a feeling that something particularly traumatizing had happened in addition to his injuries since she noticed that the water seraph was completely turned off to working with him. She glanced at Alisha, whose dutiful look remained unyielding. They had all been captured once, but the princess knight was determined not to get caught again.

Until nightfall, Edna and Mikleo resided within Sorey’s soul despite the latter’s protests. Hiding five bodies was much more difficult than hiding two or three, yet Edna seemed partial to the idea as well. Mikleo was still reeling from the episode at Rountabel Palace. Sorey had suffered damage on both a physical and a psychological level. The burden of both his injuries and his seraphim’s injuries no doubt crippled him; it couldn’t be avoided if he wanted to help the seraphim. He felt deathly ill with several occasions of dry retching in attempts to alleviate the nausea that plagued him. His eyes were progressively getting worse as Mikleo recovered.

Alisha urged him to sleep, and after a few minutes of arguing that he couldn’t because he wanted to focus on Mikleo, he conceded. In the bushes that lined the path from the gate, Sorey slept soundly save for his coughing fits that had to be covered up with the rustling leaves. Lailah finally had her chance to ask what had been bothering her.

“Alisha, what happened when I was singing?” she timidly asked. “I don’t remember anything, but Mikleo is vastly different from before. Did I do something to cause this?”

Alisha cradled her face. She pressed her forehead to hers.

“You didn’t do anything of your own free will. Bartlow did all these things to Mikleo, and he’s hurt him deeply. It’s not your fault,” she told her. She kissed her reassuringly; however, Lailah was still sure that she had done something that had fractured the bond between Mikleo and Sorey.

Suddenly Mikleo and Edna left Sorey’s body. The former tried to run away, but the earth seraph trapped him in a cage of stone. The frightened water seraph screamed and cried, begging to be set free before sinking to his knees and whining helplessly in his container while tightly hugging himself. His eyes were wild with terror. He chewed on his lip then on his nails then on the palm of his hand.

“You can’t just run away, Mikleo!” Edna barked at him. “Sorey needs you, and you need him! Don’t you understand what he’s going through now for you?! He’s giving his life for you!”

“I don’t care! I hate humans! Please, just let me go! If…If I die, that’s okay…humans only want to hurt seraphim, so it doesn’t matter! Please let me go…I don’t want to be here…” he sobbed.

Lailah and Alisha joined Edna positively confused about why all this was happening. At first, Edna wanted to wake Sorey up and make him Dive into him, but being so close to a cesspool of malevolence and Diving into a seraph by force made it impossible for such an idea to come to fruition without excruciating pain. It annoyed her to no end that he was trying escape when her vessel was suffering for him. But Lailah thought there was a better way to handle it.

“Edna, break down the cage,” she calmly ordered. Reluctantly, the earth seraph did as she was told. She watched her approach the frightened seraph. “Mikleo, will you listen to me?” She sat on her knees in front of him. Noticing that he was now afraid of her as well due to her association with humans, she spoke softer to him. “Sorey is a good human. Alisha is a good human. They want to protect you. Sorey wants to protect you because he loves you. He is giving you his life.”

Mikleo shook his head. That simply couldn’t be true! All humans were evil! “They’re going to hurt me again. I don’t want to be in pain. I don’t want to die by their hands.” His face was soaked with tears. “Humans are destructive…evil…hurtful…”

“They won’t hurt you. Don’t you remember when you were young? Sorey and you were always together. Sorey wishes for a world where humans and seraphim can live together in harmony. Don’t you want to help him achieve that dream?”

He was convinced she was lying to him. He summoned his staff, preparing to shoot a ball of water at her. It would greatly damage her since she was a fire seraph, and he would be able to run away. Then a voice came from the bushes. Sorey had woken up after hearing Mikleo cry.

“He’s gotten worse,” Edna told him.

“I know he has,” he almost inaudibly said. He sat next to Lailah. “Lailah, if a seraph is afraid, would a human they’re bonded to be able to Dive into them?”

The fire seraph, taking Alisha’s hand, answered his question. Seraphim were ultimately in charge of whoever was allowed into their soul spaces. If a seraph didn’t want someone inside of them, they had the ability to kick them out or kill them. If Sorey were to try to Dive into Mikleo now, she guaranteed that his life would be in great danger. He would be eaten alive inside of him because the negative feels he held in his heart were like hellions in their own respect. Forcing himself into him would further hurt their bond. In that regard, Sorey was fine with taking small steps. He held out his hand to him as he tried to hide how sick he was or how sad he was or how scared he was for him.

“G-Gramps…” Mikleo whimpered. “I want Gramps…” He crawled backwards before curling up into a ball. “Gramps…please…I don’t want to be alone…Not among humans…”

Sorey, who had seen what had become of their dear Zenrus, clenched his fist. He retracted his hand. He searched for the words to explain that he was no longer with them. He desperately wanted to hug him, but he knew that sudden movements would make it worse. Ultimately, Sorey was afraid that he would no longer be able to help him grow.

“We should go into the village and get rid of the monster in the museum,” Sorey coughed. “The quicker we save this village, the better for everyone.”

“But what about Mikleo?” Alisha asked him.

“I won’t force myself onto him. If he wants to let me in, then it will be his decision.”

Sorey watched Mikleo weep silently for someone to give him comfort. He was a mistreated animal, paralyzed with fear and probably wracked with so much pain that he couldn’t think of anything except to either escape or to sit still and wait for death’s sweet embrace. He had to wonder why he was so distressed even though the Virus inside of him had been eradicated. Did it corrupt him more than he thought?

“Sorey, Alisha, would it be alright if I stayed behind to care for Mikleo? I don’t think he’s in any condition to go back into the museum at the moment,” Lailah said.

“It’d probably be best, but would that hurt the bond between him and Sorey?” Alisha asked. She knew distance often was a factor in the strain.

“I don’t think so. You won’t be too far anyway.”

Sorey bit his lip. He didn’t want to leave Mikleo behind, but again, he didn’t want to force him to do anything. He was sure that the malevolence still circulating in Marlind would hurt him, and he just couldn’t put him through that.

With Edna back inside of him, he and Alisha snuck to the center of the village under the darkness of the night. Lailah coaxed Mikleo back into the bushes, giving him permission to rest his head on her lap if it offered him any comfort even though he was scared to do so. It didn’t take long for him to calm down with Lailah, but he forbade her from touching him. He curled up by the tree roots

Sorey, on the other hand, bottled up how he felt. He couldn’t afford to let Edna and Alisha know how terrible he felt both from being unable to comfort Mikleo and how much everything was on his shoulders. Edna had an inkling about how he felt, and she wasn’t particularly sympathetic, but she had witnessed everything that had happened in the soul space. When they arrived at the Dumnonia Museum and she was able to stomach coming outside into its dusty halls, she couldn’t stay quiet anymore.

“Sorey, just let it out,” she told him with her umbrella spinning on her shoulder.

“You read my mind, Edna,” Alisha agreed. “You’re obviously upset about all this. It’s not healthy for either of you to bottle it up. You’re already sick from trying to heal him. I understand, I’m feeling winded, too, and I don’t want to worry Lailah, but…not expressing yourself won’t make things better.”

Sorey forced himself to stay quiet. Mikleo was afraid of him—it was the last thing he wanted! He wanted to hold his face to make up for not holding him while Bartlow tortured him to the brink of death. Wanted to kiss his tears away, wanted to sleep next to him. If he touched him even just lightly, he knew Mikleo would attack him. He wouldn’t be able to use Song Magic, but his Seraphic Artes were just at strong if not stronger. He didn’t put it past him to kill him if he had the chance. Then he thought, would he ever return to normal? Would he go back to being the darling seraph that he had always loved? If Mikleo was permanently distressed, Sorey wouldn’t be able to handle it!

“This…isn’t the time for that. We have to quell the hellion here. I appreciate that you’re concerned, but I just want to finish this so I can be with him. I need to Dive into him, and the only way to do that is to clear the malevolence from here,” he said. He coughed horrendously.

They walked through the doors they had used to escape the monster and deeper into the museum, Edna and Alisha behind Sorey whispering between themselves about how much he was pushing himself. They began to fear that if he kept forcing himself to go on, he would die before Mikleo was completely healed if the malevolence didn’t corrupt him first.  
Just around the corner, the hellion was waiting. Quelling it wasn’t going to be easy with only one seraph and two debilitated humans. Still, it had to be done with or without extra help. Sorey stepped into the room, the pressure from the malevolence it exuded crushing his chest.

The hellion named Knight Arthur stood up, towered over him. It wielded a broadsword, which Sorey was determined to dodge every time it swung it. He and Alisha were going to quell it and return to their seraphim, and Edna was ready to let loose.

Sorey and Alisha charge with their weapons ready to pierce the golden armor, and Knight Arthur raised its sword over them. Edna summoned spears of rock from thin air. It was an all-out assault against the hellion, and even though they were sure to have trouble with quelling it, things were rather easy…too easy.

“We’ve got it on the ropes!” Alisha said, but Sorey sensed something was off. The hellion backed away from them. “It’s trying to escape?”

“No, you idiot, it’s going to use Song Magic!” Edna warned.

The hellion sounded muffled and blurred notes, and the crushing weight that weigh on Sorey’s chest got heavier and heavier until he was forced down to his knees in agony. Alisha thought it felt like her limbs were being pulled from her body. Edna’s head pounded; the corrupted Hymmnos reverberated through the room.

Satisfied that its Song Magic had pinned them down, Knight Arthur approached Sorey slowly while lifting its sword above his head. It charged up its power so it could use Head Splitter, an attack that would kill Sorey if he couldn’t move out of the way. He was far too weak to fight against the hellion, or perhaps it had gained strength from a failsafe ability. Whatever happened to give it the advantage, Sorey cursed it.

“ _Photon Blast!_ ” Lailah’s voice cried out from behind. A ball of fire raced towards the hellion, temporarily stunning it and stopping the effect of its Song Magic.  
“Alisha, are you alright?”

“Save the reunion for later!” Edna barked.

She stomped the floorboards, and pikes of stone stabbed into the hellion. The armor, punctured and broken, emitted a black mist that was the malevolence possessing it. Lailah flicked her fires at the wisps, which prevented them from coalescing with the malevolence still in the atmosphere over Marlind.

Lailah helped her human up then offered her some of her healing incantations. When she went over to heal Sorey, she was met with a worried look. Where was Mikleo? The water seraph, she told him, was waiting at the front of the building with a book of nursery rhymes she’d found by a grave to keep him calm. She thought it would have been a bad idea to bring him into the fray, and while she felt somewhat guilty for taking the book, it served its purpose. As for how she knew to appear, she felt it in her soul that Alisha was in trouble. Her life force had suddenly diminished. The bond between human and seraph was mysterious but life-saving.

“Well, that’s another problem down, and it’s a little more bearable out here now,” Edna said with a breath of relief. “What’s the next order of business?”

Dotted around the nooks and crannies of the village were hellions called heddins. This particular variant was a wolf heddin—it was exactly how it sounded. It was the ghostly malevolent head of a wolf that formed a web of wickedness that trapped the village in its plague. Lailah sensed five of them in the village.

“A few flicks of my Silver Flame will destroy them, and I don’t sense that they can do much damage aside from being present,” she said. “Sorey, perhaps you and your seraphim can rest at the inn.”

How were they going to when they had already been arrested once and have Mikleo wandering about like a sore thumb? They were better off camping within the museum now that the hellion was gone. 

Sorey brought Edna inside even though it weakened him then headed to the front of the museum. They were so busy dealing with the hellion that they didn’t notice the pitter-patter of rain on the dusty window. From the stairs, he found his beloved seraph mourning the loss of all the paintings and statues—artifacts of the past. He seemed to be at ease, yet once Sorey approached him from behind, he shrank again. The Shepherd slowly lifted his hand. Mikleo was trembling.

“I’m sorry I scared you,” he gently told him as he lowered his hand. Alisha and Lailah watched from the stairs holding each other’s hands in apprehension. “We can’t go to the inn, so are you okay with staying here? I won’t do anything but keep you company so you’re not lonely.”

Mikleo’s eyes shifted to a corner, which he dashed to. That was where he would spend his time until Lailah and Alisha had purified the heddins.

 _“This is getting really annoying,”_ Edna grumbled in Sorey’s head.

“He just needs time.”

“Sorey, will you be okay with him while we’re gone?” Lailah asked him

Sorey nodded. He simply took a spot against the wall near Mikleo but not directly next to him. He looked at him for a few moments before lying down. There was nothing else to do but to fall asleep. Mikleo, on the other hand, curled up and chewed on his fingers.

It pained Alisha and Lailah to leave them like that, and before they left, they beckoned Edna to leave them alone. They wanted her with them so they could talk.

Mikleo chewed on his knuckles while staring at Sorey sleeping in front of him. He couldn’t escape from his corner with him there. He started to rock back and forth, slowly at first, then harder enough to hurt his spine on the wall.

In another part of the village, Alisha and the two girl seraphim tracked down the heddins. At first, she wasn’t so sure it was a good idea to leave Mikleo and Sorey alone together considering that the former was terrified of him. Edna, while somewhat concerned about the situation, believed that maybe if they just sat in each other’s presence for a bit without any interaction, Mikleo would come around.

“How can you be so sure that would work?” Alisha asked her.

“It’s how the animals Eizen and I used to watch got along,” Edna replied. “If there was one that was scared, the others would slowly approach it and then lie down and sleep. We always wondered how it worked, but I guess it’s a way to show vulnerability.”

“Edna, that’s quite a nice idea,” Lailah smiled.

They came to the first heddin, and the fire seraph burnt it away. The flames blazed red instead of the usual blue.

Alisha was still worried. All of this was putting a strain on Sorey. In addition to freeing seraphim from slavery and promoting the coexistence between them and humans, he was dealing with the microcosm of his dream cracking in front of him. Humans were susceptible to malevolence, so who was to say that Sorey wouldn’t become corrupted by seeing Mikleo like this? Now that he was living for two for the moment until Mikleo had fully healed—and Lailah had recovered from her bout with the Virus by now, allowing Alisha to breathe easier—she couldn’t help but think that Sorey would never get better. For seraphim, mind over matter was the way of life. If Mikleo continued to let what Bartlow did to him haunt him, he would require Sorey’s life force forever or until Sorey’s body finally gave in and fell apart. He wasn’t looking any better; in fact, she had noticed when he first slept since winning against the Virus that he was wheezing in his sleep. She understood just how scared Mikleo was even after the ordeal, but she wished that Sorey would force him to do something.

“It makes me a little angry,” Alisha said, clenching her fist. “Mikleo won’t try to understand Sorey’s position. A lot is at stake—if we lose the Shepherd, there’s no hope for the seraphim. A Squire can only do so much.”

They found the second heddin and destroyed it.

Lailah was just as frustrated as Alisha, but nothing could be done until Mikleo was comfortable enough to allow Sorey into his heart again. Perhaps Diving would help him, but trauma of that magnitude would certainly permeate into the layers closest to his true feelings. She agreed that things had to happen soon before another Virus arose from the cancerous fear and hatred for humans spreading through him. If a Virus did develop again, he wouldn’t stand a chance, and the selfless Shepherd wouldn’t be able to save him. If Sorey knew that that was a possibility—a high one at that—he would succumb to the malevolence. With no memory of what happened while she was singing or before that when Bartlow forced Zenrus to hurt him, she could only imagine how awful he felt, and even then it wasn’t close to the fear and shame and disappointment of not being able to save him. She could imagine how Sorey’s heart broke listening to the sounds that escaped the water seraph’s throat; she was lucky enough to have never suffered what he did, yet she could hear them if she tried hard enough to imagine it.

“It’s heartbreaking because Sorey has to live with the guilt of being powerless to save him as well as watch him fear him,” Lailah said.

They found the third heddin and purified it.

Being the one that resides within Sorey more, Edna was exasperated with Mikleo’s inconsideration towards Sorey. She still didn’t trust humans, but she knew that Sorey meant no harm at all. She had seen it with her own eyes in the aqueduct. He blamed himself for all of this, even if he hadn’t said anything explicitly about what had happened. And as much as she didn’t want to admit it, it was odd and somewhat painful to watch Mikleo shrink away from Sorey’s very presence. It reminded her of her brother albeit he stayed away from her so he couldn’t hurt her during his transformation into a dragon. Sorey didn’t want to force him to do anything, but how could he expect her to do the same?

They found the fourth and fifth heddins, purifying them quickly. Dawn had come; the morning sun was desperately trying to break the dark clouds that hung over Marlind. They return to the museum, stopping short of the front door when they heard stomach-twisting screams echoing from inside.

Alisha pushed open the door to find Sorey and Mikleo alone. Sorey was hugging Mikleo, or rather he was desperately holding onto him as his water seraph clawed at his arms and face. He was screaming while the brunet tried to calm him, but he wasn’t responding to him. When Alisha and Lailah stepped towards him, but he warned them to stay away.

“I think he tried to sleep,” he told them over the screams. “He just started screaming suddenly. I think he’s having a night terror.” He went back to trying to comfort him even though it was useless until Mikleo tired himself out. “It’s okay, Mikleo, I’m here.”

Eventually Mikleo fell silent, no longer trying to escape Sorey’s hold. Whatever memory had reared its ugly head had plagued him, and once again Sorey took the blame for it.

“Sorey, don’t be so hard on yourself,” Alisha told him. She sat down next to him. They didn’t have time to waste waiting for Mikleo to wake up from whatever had frightened him, but considering that the atmosphere from those two alone made them worry, she didn’t force them to move.

“Well, while Meebo gets his beauty sleep, what else is there to do about the malevolence?” Edna asked. “It’s gone down, but the plague is still present in the village and we still have that dragon to worry about.” She tapped her umbrella on the ground.

“That’s true,” Lailah concurred. “And it’s morning now. We can’t wait until night again to get rid of the malevolence. If only we could have a way to find it…”

Alisha looked up from Mikleo to the door where a group of people had gathered. Edna recognized a couple of them—the humans that had killed the seraphim out of mercy. They looked worried, as if they had missed an infected seraph.

“Who are you?” Alisha questioned them. “Don’t make any sudden movements.”

The people raised their hands, but they continued to gaze at Mikleo. One of them spoke:

“You’re the people that were arrested by the Hyland Army. How did you escape? No, never mind that, is that seraph infected with the plague? We don’t have enough medicine, and as horrible as it is, we can put him out of his misery.”

Edna, Alisha, and Lailah guarded Mikleo until Sorey stood up while still holding Mikleo. There was no reason to fear them; they were the ones trying to help the seraphim even if it meant garnering malevolence for the guilt they felt. He didn’t tell them what had happened to him, only that he was sick from the evilness in the village.

“The malevolence…”

“If it means anything to you, there has been something hanging around. It looked like a baby dragon.”

“Yes, that must be the source of all the malevolence in the village aside from the enslavement of seraphim.”

Alisha touched her chin in thought. This had to be the dragon—or drake—had been channeling the malevolence, but would killing it force a change of heart in the humans here? It was worth a try, but Edna and Sorey had a different idea.

“We’re not going to kill it,” Sorey said. “We have to purify the drake. I don’t want any more seraphim to die. My dream…My dream with Mikleo is to promote peaceful coexistence between humans and seraphim, and killing them isn’t the answer.”

“A drake is still able to be purified without too much trouble,” Edna added. “It’s not a dragon yet, so we can still save it.”

The resolve that resonated in their hearts rang soundly to Alisha and Lailah. They asked the group to find someone that could help them combat the greediness of the village people. As the group left in search of help, Sorey and Edna agreed that it was time to Dive.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm a sucker for traumatized characters. I'm also a sucker for one of a pair having to care for the other while being debilitated themselves (Sorey, in this case). But yeah, this is a LONG ASS CHAPTER.


	19. Phase 1:  Two Sides to Every Stone

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cosmosphere Level 2: Edna  
>  _Ma num ra chs pic wasara mea,_  
>  _en fwal syec mea._  
>  _Was yea ra chs mea yor_  
>  _en fwal en chs hymme._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alrighty, this cosmosphere level is heavily based on Luca's 2nd level since I like the idea of two Ednas. I would have had this up sooner, but classes started for the summer, then it was birthday a few days ago, and I've been trying to crank out all the cosplay stuff I can before my first test.

Sorey prepared himself to Dive into Edna. He placed Mikleo carefully on the ground then turned to Alisha to ask:

“Do you still have the Shepherd’s garb?”

She did though it did get some damage from the ordeal at Rountabel Palace. She handed it to him, and while she was hoping to see what it looked like on him, the brunet had a different idea. He lay the cloak over Mikleo like a blanket. He figured it could be something like a security blanket as well as an extension of himself comforting him as he slept.

Edna patiently waited for Sorey to finish tending to Mikleo, and Lailah pulled Alisha to the side looking perplexed.

“I thought I was okay, but I can’t use Silver Flame anymore,” the fire seraph whispered. She had thought something was missing, and purifying the hellions had proved her right.

“Alisha, you need to help me get it back if we want to purify the drake.”

Alisha nodded eagerly. She was excited to Dive into Lailah again and more than willing to help rediscovering her Silver Flame. Once Sorey and Edna had initiated their session, she promised that they would Dive as well.

\----------------------------------------------------

After Armatizing with Edna and meeting with her in the shared soul space, Sorey entered the second level of her soul. The world had been severely reduced and was two-dimensional like a children’s drawing. There was a small poorly-drawn patisserie, and Edna was there busy making chocolates. She tasted them, shuddering at her own concoctions.

“This tastes awful,” she dejectedly said. “There’s no way that he would like this.”

Her voice sounded terribly childlike, and instead of pulverizing the bitter pieces of chocolate with her rocks and giving up, she tossed them out and made a new batch. Sorey was beside himself because this Edna was very different from the Edna he knew. In fact, he wondered if there had been a screw-up while initiating the Dive. After all, she was wearing a completely different outfit—a pink frilly dress with an apron and different colored bows and red shoes. Her usually brown leaf headband was replaced with kitty ears and a red bow, and her umbrella was decorated with big red bows.

“Phoenix, are you there?” Sorey asked just outside of the patisserie. The golden Normin was nowhere to be found. “Weird, it’s not here. Am I supposed to just walk in then?” He peered into the window at the worrywart of a seraph. “I’ve never seen her put so much work into making sweets.”

With nothing else to do, Sorey entered the little sweets shop. He greeted her, yet she seemed not to notice or care. She just kept working at the chocolates. Another sour batch.

“Edna? Why are you making chocolates?” he finally asked.

“Because he’s going to be here, and I don’t have anything to show him how much I care about him!” she replied absentmindedly. “I have to make these chocolates and then I have to clean. He can’t arrive until everything is perfect.”

Sorey was confused about whoever “he” was. Was it Eizen? Was her soul still clinging to the death of her brother? Was she trying to bring him back? Hadn’t she accepted that Eizen was gone?

“Edna, I’m back!” Phoenix called from the door of the patisserie. “And I brought you-know-who!”

Sorey spun around after Edna dashed past him to a much taller man that looked around thirty years old. His hair was blond with golden tips just like Edna, his eyes the same cerulean but they were harsher than this Edna’s eyes. He wore a pirate’s jacket with a dragon’s spine down his back over his clothes. In his pocket, a pair of rimless spectacles hung halfway out. He was substantially taller than her.

“Big Brother! You weren’t supposed to come back yet! The chocolates aren’t done!” Edna whined.

Was this seriously Edna? Sorey couldn’t believe that she had this side to her. And was that really Eizen? Now that Phoenix was there, he could ask what was going on except the Normin had no intention of telling him what was happening with Eizen and Edna just a foot away from them. He just watched them with some sort of harrowed look.

Eizen handed Edna a basket full of gifts before excusing himself from the patisserie. Edna was saddened that he wanted to be alone. Sorey watched him walk to the Stonehenge. He had a chance to talk to her now that he had left, but he had to make sure to catch him as well. There wasn’t anywhere else to go; he hoped that Eizen would stay there until he was able to meet him.

“Edna, who was that?” Sorey asked.

“That was Big Brother Eizen,” the little earth seraph said almost too sweetly and innocently to be the sarcastic girl she was supposed to be. “Big Brother Eizen is a pirate, sailing all around the world and bringing me presents. But recently he hasn’t been talking to me, and he looks really tired all the time. He won’t tell me what’s wrong.”

Sorey held a finger to his chin. If she was so worried about him, why didn’t she follow him and find out? But the world of this level in her soul was so small and plain that it would be too obvious that she was trying to find out what was wrong with him. Additionally, if Eizen was avoiding her, then it would be nothing more than a wild goose chase. Sorey volunteered to talk to Earthy Pirate. Phoenix followed him out of the patisserie and when they were far enough that the Normin was sure that Edna wouldn’t hear it, it decided to see what Sorey’s plan of action was.

“Plan of action? Well, so far I know that Edna is worried about her brother,” Sorey said. There was nothing else to go on.

“I’m not supposed to tell you anything, but do you know what Eizen is to Edna?” Phoenix asked.

“Her brother, and the seraph form of the dragon that used to be on Rayfalke Spiritcrest.”

“I see.” Phoenix turned away from him, crossing its nubby arms. “You still don’t seem to grasp the situation.”

As fruitless as the exchange was, there had to be some sort clue. There was no other option other than to talk to Eizen himself. Thankfully the Stonehenge wasn’t too far of a walk, and within minutes he had arrived. The pirate was resting against one of the stone pillars looking drained of his energy. He watched Sorey approach him with Phoenix in tow behind him.

“You must be Sorey, the one who enter a pact with Edna,” Eizen coughed.

Sorey nodded. “I’m the new Shepherd. Eizen, can I ask you something? How did you become a dragon? Why are you not a dragon now?” he asked.

Eizen smirked. It was a long story from a millennium ago. Even he didn’t remember the details. He became a dragon the same way that everyone became a dragon—he absorbed too much malevolence and fostered a Virus within himself and he eventually lost himself to that darkness. It was a vague description, but whatever Sorey saw within Edna’s soul was a reflection and exaggeration of her own thoughts and feelings. The fact that Eizen didn’t really know was most likely Edna’s way of thinking about how he turned.

“If the real Eizen was still around, he’d be able to tell you more,” the pirate continued. “Unfortunately, I’m just an imposter.”

Phoenix let out a sigh. “It gives her peace, Urth. I’m sure Edna deeply appreciates that you do this for her,” it said.

“Wait, so is this another Normin?” Sorey questioned. “But why do you look like Eizen? Is this what Eizen really looked like?”

“This kid asks a lot of questions,” Urth chuckled. “Yes, I’m another Normin, but Edna’s reluctance to accept the loss of Eizen and that suffering is a part of life has superimposed the image of her brother on me. It’s strange; Edna’s usually a tough girl.”

Sorey’s eyes fell to the dusty ground. He understood why, and that understanding served as his motivation to get through the level. But that wasn’t the only reason he was there. He had to remember that they needed Song Magic to purify the drake tormenting Marlind. He remembered what Edna had said about specific songs—they required ores like vermillion and orpiment. Marlind didn’t have anything like that near them. Furthermore, what if Edna wasn’t able to handle such strong Song Magic or the toxins in the ores?

The only thing they could do was to try talking to Edna to have her come to terms with the grief. Urth wouldn’t revert to his former self until she had, and Phoenix was hoping that it could be done.

Sorey, Urth, and Phoenix returned to the patisserie, where Edna was still slaving away over the chocolates that she deemed not to her liking. She was happy to see Eizen but very confused why Sorey and Phoenix were with him. They all looked like someone had died, and she was ready to burst into tears simply because the atmosphere had become a dismal one.

“Edna, are you sure this is Eizen?” Sorey asked her. He couldn’t beat around the bush; it would only make things worse.

“Yes, Big Brother Eizen just came back from a voyage!” she happily said.

“But when was the last time he sailed out?”

“One thousand years ago…?”

Phoenix nudged Sorey’s foot. He was in extremely dangerous territory now, and if he broke the news that Eizen had been dead for a while now and that Urth was impersonating him, he would risk a collapse of the level. They had to rethink this plan.

“Excuse us, Edna,” Phoenix interrupted. “I need to talk with your brother and the outsider.”

Outside the patisserie, Urth and Sorey listened to Phoenix’s scolding even though it was aimed entirely at the latter. Directly confronting something like the death of a loved one was extremely stressful. “You can’t just tell her!” the golden Normin concluded.

“I’m sorry, it’s just…well, there’s not much to go on,” Sorey said. “I’m really sorry about all this.”

“Still, she’s deluding herself,” Urth grumbled. “And her world is so small now. Do you think we can break down the walls or find a way to make her come to terms?”

“It’s worth a shot,” Sorey said.

The trio headed to the edge of the world where hundred-meter-tall walls barred them from falling off. They had the insignia of the earth element, and for once, Sorey was somewhat nervous around them. They exuded an emptiness that was like malevolence yet not toxic. Other than that, there was nothing particularly special or helpful about them. It was a dead end.

“…ing!” a voice angrily called out.

“What was that?” Sorey asked.

“…ing!” the voice said again.

“Sounds like it’s coming from behind the wall,” Urth said.

“ _Sunshine Swing!_ ” the voice called out a third time before the wall separating them from it crumbled to the ground. The voice kept calling out the attack, mustering the strength to destroy the wall, until its owner had cleared an entire section of the wall. Edna—kitty baker attire and all—emerged from the dust. “Finally!”

“Edna?!” Sorey and Urth said together.

“The true Edna,” Phoenix clarified.

Edna stomped up towards Sorey, giving him a jab in the stomach with the tip of her umbrella as if to relieve some of her frustration. It seemed she had been trapped for a while behind the wall because she was covered in bruises and mud from trying to scale it.

Once she had calmed down and realized that something had gone awry, she told them that she had gone to find berries for her cooking. Having no luck, she went farther and farther out into the forest and before she knew a giant wall had cut her off from the rest of the soul space. It was only recently, and such a change could only happen if something terribly drastic had happened outside in the real world. She didn’t have to ask about the other Edna who was running her patisserie and wasting her ingredients.

“Unlike that Edna, I know Eizen is dead,” she bluntly said.

“But knowing that he’s dead and accepting the grief are two different things,” Phoenix told her.

“Phoenix is right,” Sorey agreed. “The you in the patisserie won’t accept Eizen’s death, but you also won’t accept that feeling sad is okay. I think…I think what happened to Mikleo might have done this; that part of you is afraid of losing another person you care about, and the only way to fix this is to have you confront her.”

“I could have told you that,” Edna said while angrily blushing. “First and foremost, I want my patisserie back, and I’m going to make sure that imposter finds every single ingredient that she’s thrown out.”

Edna fell into a sprint back to the patisserie, and something in the pit of Sorey’s stomach knew that this wasn’t the way to deal with the fake Edna. When they arrived shortly after her, they found that they were about to fight…or rather, Edna was ready to beat the imposter into a bloody pulp.

“Edna, stop this!” Urth cried out.

The fake Edna yelped as she took cover behind the disguised Normin. She was going on and on about how the Dive had had a malfunction, the Armatization was probably done wrong, or even that Sorey’s presence had initiated an anomalous rift within the soul space. Of course, all these things were excuses not to fight with the real proprietor of the soul space.

Edna took a breath. “Who do you think you are?” she growled at the imposter. “You hijacked my soul space and locked me out. Then you wasted my rarest ingredients to make chocolates for someone who no longer exists. What do you have to say for yourself? What can you say for yourself? Are you prepared to pay back everything you’ve done?”

“I haven’t stolen anything!” the imposter wept.

Sorey got between them just as Edna used one of her artes. He sustained some damage, but he wasn’t kicked out of Edna’s soul by sheer willpower. The imposter fled the patisserie to the Stonehenge. Edna was glad she ran away, and she began to clean up the place.

The only way to initiate a Paradigm Shift to advance deeper in Edna’s soul was to get the two to sort out their differences. Phoenix decided to keep an eye on Edna while Sorey and Urth went to the imposter. If they could get them to accept each other and tear down the wall, then everything would be solved and Sorey would get the Song Magic.

While Urth hung back, the Shepherd made his way back to the Stonehenge, where he found the fake Edna sulking that Eizen was dead and that she had caused a mess. She was dabbing tissues to her eyes, quietly sobbing in self-pity. Sorey sat next to her without saying a word. She eventually stopped crying to peek out the side of her eye. He just sat there. He didn’t look at her or say anything. He just waited for her to stop crying.

“Sorey?” she finally squeaked. “What are you doing here? The real Edna came back to the patisserie. Shouldn’t you be helping her?”

“I am,” Sorey smiled at her. He turned his body towards her, took her hands, and kept smiling at her. He couldn’t hold back that he felt sad, too. “You’re not the real Edna, but you’re something the real Edna needs.”

“What do you mean?”

“You still can’t believe that Eizen is dead, right? That’s why you made Urth look like him, and that’s why you formed those walls, but you’re only half of the reason that those walls still remain.”

“Eizen was the only family I had. We did everything together, and when he went away on his voyages, we used to write letters to each other on different kinds of birds. He used to come home with so many gifts. Of course, I can’t accept he’s gone for good. Even after it’s been a while, but wouldn’t you be sad, too, if your family just ceased to exist?”

Sorey kept smiling.

“I did lose my family. I know what it feels like. Gramps, Mikleo, everyone in Elysia—either got hurt or killed or turned into Seraphoids. But even though Gramps and the others are gone, I still have my memories of them. The same goes for Eizen. As long as you remember all of the fun times you had with him, you’re never really alone.”

The fake Edna suddenly threw her arms around Sorey’s neck, bawling into his shoulder. She knew he was right, but she couldn’t let go of the grief. But she didn’t have to because the grief was the catalyst of remembering Eizen. Coming to terms with it was part of maturing as a seraph; Edna was going to see much more suffering and death. She couldn’t remain hung up on Eizen even if he was her brother.

At the edge of the Stonehenge, Urth’s body reverted to that of a brown Normin. It peeked from behind one of the pillars as a sign that the real Edna was able to confront one of her flaws. Sorey escorted the fake Edna back to the patisserie with Urth riding on his head, and they found the real Edna had just finished cleaning up when they got there. She turned around, her hair standing on end like she was ready to pounce on her doppelganger.

“Edna, wait,” Sorey told her, anticipating how much she wanted to kill her. The angry earth seraph glared at him. “Do you know who she is?”

“A thief and a crybaby?” Edna spat.

“She’s a part of you.”

“Like a weakling like this imposter is anything like me.”

Urth jumped down from Sorey’s head. “Ms. Edna, you must listen to Sorey if you’re going to grow,” it said. Phoenix agreed with a nod.

Sorey explained what he had talked about with the fake Edna, and the real Edna listened to it even though she despised her for ruining her shop. Then it came to how she felt.

“If this Edna is the embodiment of your grief about Eizen, and those walls are to protect you from more heartbreak, then what is keeping you from confronting these fears?” Sorey asked her. Edna looked away; she couldn’t show weakness. “Why are the walls still here even though Urth is back to normal?” He already knew, but she had to say it. “Edna, you have to tell me.”

Edna bit her lip. The pressure was building more and more the longer she remained silent. Sorey wouldn’t stop questioning her until she admitted what she tried to hide. She took a breath.

“Those walls are still there because I don’t want to end up like the other seraphim. I don’t want to end up like Meebo,” she quivered. Seeing the aftermath of what he went through, I’m scared that could happen to me. Sorey, I don’t want to become a Seraphoid and lose my memories of Eizen or you. I don’t want to turn into a hellion or a dragon and live alone for eternity. I just want a happy life…”

It was so strange seeing Edna soften herself so much and lay her heart bare to a human. Unlike Mikleo, she had no incentive to do it other than to gain power. But she was almost like a lost little girl in the world despite being thousands of years older than him without anyone to cry on. She had spent the last few hundred years making sure that Eizen didn’t leave the Spiritcrest that she had learned to harden herself to most of the world.

The fake Edna hugged her tightly. She didn’t let go of her until Phoenix suggested that they go to the walls that were boxing in the world and help tear them down. The real Edna, now true to her own feelings agreed to go with them.

In front of the walls, the two Edna’s joined hands. Together they called out, “Crystal Tower!”

A crystal spear shot out of the ground, puncturing the wall in several places until it came crumbling down. The world beyond the walls was lush and full of life, and the Spiritcrest stood near the edge of the soul space not as a forbidden place but as a memorial for Eizen. The two Edna’s tearfully celebrated as the sun shined on the mountain. Soon enough, the Stonehenge glowed with the Paradigm Shift required to allow Edna to use orpiment ore in the real world and obtain stronger Song Magic.

“Edna, it’s okay to feel sad when sad things happen,” the imposter told her counterpart. “It means you’re still alive, and your new friends will always be with you just like Eizen was always there for you, even when he was out at sea.”

Edna smiled as the fake disappeared into specks of light then asked Sorey to meet her at the Stonehenge. She and Phoenix walked on, but Urth was ready to head out in the other direction.

“You’re not coming with us?” Sorey asked it.

“There’s no need to now that Edna has accepted grief,” Urth said, sounding a lot heartier with the problem solved. “If you’re worried that I need to be there so she can use orpiment ore safely, don’t be. It’ll happen intrinsically, and whatever song she creates from it will be full of these emotions. You’re not bad, kid. Edna’s as prickly as a prickleboar, but she’s already opened up to you a lot, and this is only the second level. I believe that with you, she’ll mature into a fine woman.”

Sorey teared up since he was only familiar with the rude and complacent Normin of Mikleo’s soul. He thanked Urth for the kind words before heading to the Stonehenge, where Edna waited with Phoenix to pass into the next level.

“Good job, Sorey,” Phoenix congratulated. “You’ve broken through her shell and got her to accept her feelings about all that’s happened. But from here on out, things are going to be tougher.”

“I understand,” Sorey said confidently. He wasn’t going to let Edna succumb to her own darkness. He was the Shepherd; it was part of his duty to prevent the malevolence from poisoning the very beings that he wanted to help.

“Things that happen in the real world will progressively have greater effects as the magnification of thoughts and feelings increases. But if you keep on going like this, Edna will be just fine.”

Sorey gave Phoenix a determined grin before he was transported out of Edna’s soul. With the completion of the second level of her soul, she able to use orpiment ores without damaging herself with the toxins in it.

\-------------------------------------

Sorey woke up next to Edna, who was blushing at him yet not particularly happy with something. She bopped him on the head with her umbrella.

“I don’t know why but I’m really pissed off with you,” she growled at him. “You better not have messed anything up.”

“I didn’t do much of anything,” Sorey giggled. He looked around; he was still in the museum. 

Alisha and Lailah were in the middle of a Dive. Mikleo was again stuck in a corner, but this time he was clutching the Shepherd’s garb tightly. The fact that it had become a security blanket for him was great, but it also meant that after they left Marlind, he wouldn’t be able to get it back until he was able to Dive into him and fix whatever problem was making him so distrustful of humans.

“Once we purify the drake, you can help him,” Edna said softly. Now that Sorey knew she was sorry for him, she felt obligated to offer some sort of condolence. “And to purify the drake, we have to wait for Lailah and Alisha to finish their Dive.”

Sorey asked why they had to Dive in the first place, and the earth seraph recalled that the Silver Flame wouldn’t work. Lailah didn’t force herself to try and use it given the state of the village and the vulnerability such concentration would place on her. More than likely the Dive was to regain the ability. As they waited, Sorey tried to get Mikleo used to him again in preparation of the fight to come.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I thought it was a pretty nice level, and I had to do some research--vermillion ore is made by fire seraphim, so I thought it would make sense if only fire seraphim could use it. So then I rewatched the Rock You skit and decided that perhaps orpiment would be good for earth seraphim. Then I had to research other ores and whatever toxic elements they had in them. Ah, the things you do for writing.


	20. Phase 1:  Argent, the Great Flame

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cosmosphere Level 5: Lailah  
>  _Ma num ra chs pic wasara mea,_  
>  _en fwal syec mea._  
>  _Was yea ra chs mea yor_  
>  _en fwal en chs hymme._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is based on Saki's level 5 cosmosphere, and admittedly it's been a long time. Trying not to hit the cosmospheres too much on the nose, but I think this one worked out. Also going to incorporate other outfits from DLCs and Tales of Link.

Lailah and Alisha had prepared to Dive not long after Sorey and Edna had commenced their session. It had been so long since the two girls had seen each other in the shared soul space, and even though Alisha had already cleared Lailah’s soul space for her betterment, she was excited to go through it again. Before Alisha entered her soul, Lailah gave her a kiss for luck.

_“It’s been a long time,”_ Lailah reminded her. _“Remember that the deeper levels are more dangerous than the surface levels.”_

_“I’ll be okay,”_ Alisha reassured. She Dove into her soul.

\----------------------------------------------

Alisha found herself in Ladylake where there were balloons and an endless shower of confetti rained over the main district. Crowds of people were celebrating. Vendors of all kinds were selling their foods and artists were selling their works. The princess knight caught a glimpse of one of them, and in the beautiful brush strokes, Lailah was dancing among fires.

“Strange, I don’t really remember this being part of her soul space,” Alisha murmured to herself.

She continued to the sanctuary, where more people had gathered around but not in joyous splendor. A priest with a normally kind face looked over his people nervously.

“What do you mean that Lady Lalalili refuses to come out?” Mikleo growled.

“We came all this way to see her!” Edna complained, an older man with similar hair and eyes holding her back.

“If we can’t hear her sing, how will we sleep at night?” Rose booed.

Alisha walked up to a townsperson and asked what was going on. According to him, Lailah had decided that she was tired of being an idol for Ladylake. She wanted to go out into the world and explore all it had to offer. In doing so, it meant letting Argent the Great Flame burn out. If Argent burned out, the city would fall into chaos.

“Maybe I can talk with her,” Alisha suggested.

Other people overheard her.

“Yeah, right, like Lady Lalilah would listen to some measly human,” Mikleo scoffed.

“Lalalili doesn’t have time for peasants,” Edna spat.

“Lalupin is far too famous for the likes of you,” Rose insulted.

Alisha was taken aback. The soul space had changed dramatically from when she had last visited some months ago. Given recent events, she wasn’t too surprised that this was the result. She was still very confused about Argent, especially since it hadn’t been a part of her until recently.

Without any further mingling, she walked the path into the sanctuary only to be stopped by the priest, who nervously asked her, “What are your credentials?”

“Credentials? I’m the princess of the Diphda family, and I’m also Lady Lailah’s caretaker. Surely she has talked about me?” Alisha replied dignified.

The priest verified the information then escorted her into the sanctuary. It looked the same as it did before it was turned into a murder house for humans and seraphim alike. The Great Flame Argent burned in a goblet in the center of the main hall in front of a high rise that held purified water for sanctification. Lailah was nowhere to be found.

“Lady Lalupin must have gone off somewhere,” the priest said.

“Do you know where she would go?”

“Probably towards Ringaround Palace, but after they threatened to break the Propheta Statue, she’s been wary of going near them.”

Alisha just stared at him confused as she could be. What were all these weird names? Lady Lalupin? Ringaround Palace? Propheta Statue? She recalled that the last time she had been this close to the surface of her soul, things were more normal. Lailah was Lailah, and most of her soul space dealt with things that could roll proficiently and Alisha. Did it have something to do with Bartlow’s forcing her to learn **[that Song Magic]**? Particularly notable events had the ability to influence the soul space, and it didn’t seem impossible that that nightmare had done so.

She headed in the direction of the palace and what would normally be her manor. She couldn’t believe her eyes—Ringaround Palace was a giant extravagant carousel and right next door was the Propheta Statue. The statue—all 800 feet of it—was carved from igneous rocks and looked exactly like Alisha.

“I don’t know whether to be flattered or creeped out…” Alisha sighed. 

But the search continued around the Nobles’ District until she heard Lailah’s voice coming from the doors of Ringaround Palace. Atakk was with her as well, and both were thrown out like garbage.

“If you break my life’s work, then I’ll make sure Argent burns out!” the fire seraph almost cried. She was wearing a white and light-green plaid outfit with lime accessories; she looked like a high-school idol. The guards murmured among themselves, as if her threat had rattled them. “Why should my wonderful Propheta Statue have to pay for your mistakes?”

Atakk held onto her leg.

“Lady Lalupin, please calm down!” it begged her.

Suddenly, a woman wearing a lab coat over what looked like a teacher’s uniform came out of the palace. Her hair was braid back, and she wore glasses. Other than these differences, she was identical to Lailah.

“Are you listening to yourself? If you allow Argent to burn out, the world will be sundered by malevolence. The statue has garnered enough of it; we must eradicate it before it destroys our city,” the Lailah clone said.

“But…But my love for her won’t be acknowledged until she sees it!” Lailah cried.

“I can’t help you if you refuse to realize what will happen.”

The professor-looking Lailah turned to go back into the palace.

“Wait! What is your name?” Lailah asked.

“You may call me Logic.”

When the guard and Logic had returned into the palace, and when Lailah was weeping her eyes out, Atakk found Alisha. It ran to her with desperation.

“Lady Alisha, boy, did you come at the right time!” Atakk cried. It explained what happened from when Lailah—still referred to as Lady Lalupin—finished building her statue. Logic suddenly appeared in town, claiming that the statue was upsetting the people of Ladylake. The only solution was to destroy it, but Lailah had spent so much of her time building it that it would break her to see it torn down. “I don’t know what to do! Not even I, an esteemed Mind Guardian, can fix this mess!”

Alisha thought to console Lailah about the statue because perhaps it would have been a good idea to get rid of it. Even though she made it out of love, the statue itself put Alisha on a pedestal too high for her liking as well as looked gaudy. She was never one to intentionally cause the people of Ladylake dissatisfaction.

But who was this Logic person to Lailah, or was she merely a representation of something in her subconscious? Why would such a representation exist when Lailah had so much love for Alisha?

Alisha took a step towards Lailah when a familiar old man stepped out of the palace to her. Chancellor Bartlow went down the stairs to the palace to the fire seraph, helping her up as if he seriously treasured her in this world. Of course, Lady Lalupin was famous; and everyone wanted to be on her good side.

“How rude Logic treats you, Lady Lalupin,” he sincerely said. He dusted off her dress. He spoke in a faint voice, so Alisha only caught fragments of words and phrases. From her experience, anything with Bartlow was bad. “Keep it up.”

“But Logic will destroy it,” Lailah almost cried.

“Not if the model for your glorious statue has anything to say about it. I hear she’s in town.”

Lailah turned to find Alisha looking at her with concern. Without a moment to spare, she threw her arms around her and kissing her tenderly. Bartlow snuck away, rubbing Alisha the wrong way.

After heading back to the sanctuary to see how Argent was faring, Lailah struck up a conversation about the statue. She asked if she liked it, what she liked about it, how she thought about the different types of rocks that were used, and most importantly if she thought it should be torn down.

“Um, well, let me answer your questions one at a time,” Alisha sheepishly smiled. “I do like the statue. I really like the shades of pink in my armor. I like that you used so many different rocks…” she paused. “But if the statue is upsetting the people, I think you should take it down.”

“I can’t possibly do that, Alisha!” Lailah whined. “How else will Ladylake know the extent of my love for you? And I used Argent’s power to make it, so I don’t want it to go to waste.”

It was no use in changing Lailah’s mind about the statue, and after Alisha excused herself to see out Logic and confront her about what the problem really was, Atakk weighed in on what had been happening.

The Normin, now purposefully withholding information, simply told her that maybe Logic wasn’t the problem.

“What do you mean?” Alisha asked.

“This isn’t your first time Diving into Lailah,” Atakk replied. “Emotions here are magnified, and there are conflicts of interest.”

Alisha thought about it, but in the end, she wasn’t getting what Atakk meant. She headed back to the palace. There, however, was some sort of altercation between Logic and Bartlow.

“Back down, old man,” Logic hissed. Bartlow was surrounded by malevolence with a smirk on his face. “I won’t allow you to further corrupt Lailah with your immoral ways.”

“It’s quite late to be trying to stop the ebb and flow of Lady Lalupin’s desires. With that statue generating malevolence in the people, I’ll be able to take control of her once again and finally make her into my most precious slave. She will sing for me endlessly until her throat is raw!”

Alisha joined in the fight, assisting Logic with her spear. It was slowly becoming clear that the Bartlow in the soul space was the manifestation of whatever he had done to turn her into the Vaccine. Logic was already wounded from before, and she was in no condition to continue.

“I finally understand,” Logic said.

Bartlow cackled. “Keep trying, foolish girl. Lalupin will be mine; just you watch!” He escaped into the palace.

“We need to go after him!” Alisha decided.

“No, he’s far too strong,” Logic replied. She hobbled to the center of the city with Alisha supporting her on her shoulder. “I know what he is now.”

Alisha sat her on a bench. Her hypothesis was that Bartlow was the remnants of the training that Lailah had gone through—this wasn’t a surprise to Alisha. Most of the people didn’t care that the Propheta Statue was standing tall in Ladylake; in fact, because of Lalupin’s reputation, they were quite impressed she had made it.

“Argent is in danger of being poisoned by the malevolence, but it’s not from the statue. It’s coming from Bartlow,” she concluded.

“We need to stop Bartlow and restore Argent to what it once was,” Alisha added. Logic nodded, but they both knew that it would be difficult to apprehend Bartlow and quell the malevolence produced by him.

“We need Lailah’s help to quell the malevolence. Her purifying powers are the only thing that will do the trick.”

Logic let out a sigh. She felt terrible for telling Lailah that her statue had to be destroyed, but if Bartlow was using it to channel the malevolence, it had to be done. Alisha tried to think of a way to use the statue against Bartlow.

“Logic, can’t seraphim do things if they concentrate hard enough?” she asked.

“In some cases, yes. A lot of what seraphim are capable of is based on belief.”

“Okay, I’ll be back soon.”

Alisha left Logic to look for Atakk. It wouldn’t be able to tell her if her idea would work, but she could ask about the chances. When she found it by the Stonehenge, she hastily asked:

“Atakk, is it possible for a seraph to will a statue into motion?”

“I don’t know,” it replied. “It depends on how much the seraph believes she has that strength.”

“So then it’s possible. If Logic and I defeat Bartlow and use the statue to quell the malevolence, Lailah will be able to have a Paradigm Shift and use the Silver Flame in the real world.”

“You’re getting a little crazy with these ideas…” Atakk crossed its arms. “Do you know the effect of using the statue to your advantage?”

“No, but we need to do something now. We can’t afford not to take a chance.”

Struck with the determination and inspiration to fight against Bartlow, the princess knight made her way back to the sanctuary where her beloved fire seraph had been fighting with herself about tearing down the statue. Papers had been folded into all kind of fortune-telling origami pieces and flowers had been plucked of all their petals. She had been crying; every way she looked at her fortunes, they all said that if she didn’t tear down the statue, unimaginable sadness would flood the city. Lailah used all these things to keep Argent burning a little longer until Alisha pulled her away without warning.

“A-Alisha! Where are we going?” she asked suddenly.

“The Propheta Statue isn’t generating malevolence; it’s Bartlow! He’s using your statue to turn the people against you!” Alisha told her.

“But…Bartlow said that I should keep it up because I worked hard on it. Why would he want to use it against me?”

Alisha dragged Lailah to the bench where Logic had been sitting, and the fire seraph immediately tried to run away from her as she remembered their past confrontation. Logic meant no harm, however, and she was too weak to hurt her now anyway. And it wasn’t long until Bartlow came along, too, with a sword ready to finish off Logic and threaten Lailah into submission.

“Lady Lalupin, go to the statue,” Logic ordered. “Alisha and I will take care of this swine. When we give the signal, you must use the statue to purify Ladylake!”

Lailah, terrified of what was happening, ran to the statue. Bartlow lunged for her like a hellion, but Alisha barred him from attacking him.

“You’ll have to cut us down before we let you touch her!” Alisha growled.

The hellionized Bartlow snarled at her before he began his assault. He was going to chop her into slices, but thanks to Alisha being taught by a master of the spear, her defense was impenetrable. Logic shot fireballs at him with her papers, and once there was an opening, she set the spear’s blade on fire.

Alisha dashed behind Bartlow, running the fire through his chest. His body burned immediately, the shrieks of a hellion erupting into the sky. But as his body was reduced to wisps of darkness that burned bright blue by the power of purification, the malevolence level began to rise quickly. The citizens of Ladylake were overcome with dread and disease, and the Great Flame Argent was almost snuffed out.

“Lailah! Activate the statue!” Alisha called out as loud as she could.

Lailah heard her voice echo, and she set aside her worries about the statue. She was going to prove Logic wrong. Her statue would be something good. With every ounce of her being, she focused on the statue as it sparkled in the sun. Feeling the power welling up from deep within, Lailah called upon the power of Argent.

“ _Silver Flame!_ ” she called out.

The statue glowed as it channeled mana and magnified her power. The silver flame radiated from the statue’s spear, decimating even the smallest specks of malevolence that threatened Ladylake. Its warmth enveloped the people including her friends from the real world. Everything evil was burned away.

After the flames and malevolence cleared away, Lailah regrouped with Alisha and Logic. The people were returning to normal, but there was still something off about the world. Even though the malevolence had been cleared away, Lailah and Logic felt a disturbance emanating from the sanctuary.

“The worst of my fears have come true,” Logic said.

She made a beeline to the hall for the sanctuary where Argent was a tiny flame in its goblet. Using the statue as a catalyst for the power of the Silver Flame, Argent had been drained of its strength. The soul space was in danger of collapse because the amount of power borrowed was far too much.

Alisha and Lailah followed Logic to the sanctuary, where the latter felt guilty for using the statue to help her followers. Logic didn’t blame her, but she didn’t know how to correct the problem either.

Alisha hugged Lailah. This wasn’t how the Dive was supposed to go.

The flame died out but in its embers, was a red Normin that was snoring away. When it woke up, it peered up at Logic and Lailah. It had a child’s voice.

“Who freed me from my prison?” it asked.

Logic looked back at Lailah, who cautiously stepped up to the Normin.

“L-L-Lady Lalupin?! It’s an honor to meet you! Are you the one who woke me up? Many thanks to you, my lady, my idol!”

Atakk joined the group at some point to see what all the hubbub was about and to see how Alisha was faring. “Oh, hey, Faira!” it greeted the red Normin.

Faira waved before returning to Lailah. “If you were able to wake me from my slumber, then you’ve got the capacity to use Silver Flame in the real world; your heart proves that.”

“Wait, so you’re the embodiment of that ability?” Alisha asked a bit surprised.

“Yup, but now that I’m awake and free, I can grant the power to Lady Lalupin once we go to the Stonehenge.”

Alisha was moved to tears, hugging Lailah while spinning. Lailah was very confused because she didn’t really understand why or how Faira gave her that ability. But it was something to ponder about later. All that mattered now was that they got to the Stonehenge and delivered the Silver Flame to the real Lailah.

At the Stonehenge, the Paradigm Shift began, but before Lailah stepped into the light with Faira, she faced Logic. “I’m sorry for all the trouble I caused,” she said. “And…it doesn’t look like you can come with me to the next level.”

Logic coolly chuckled. “It’s okay, Lalupin. You managed to save the people of this city and reawaken the power of purification within you. Even if I can’t go with you to the next level, remember that I exist in your soul, and that I will help you in the most trying of situations.”

Lailah then looked at Alisha. “Thank you, Alisha, for saving me from the hellion.”

“That’s what I’m here for—I will always protect you,” Alisha told her.

Lailah waved goodbye, and before Alisha was transported out of the soul space, Atakk congratulated her. Then it became serious.

“You’ve been through this before, but are you prepare for the next level when you have to do it?” it asked Alisha.

Alisha nodded. The next Dive wouldn’t be for a while, but she wasn’t going to let her guard down. She exited the soul space.

\---------------------------------------------------------

Unlike previous times in which Alisha fainted next to Lailah, she simply separated from her. She was somewhat disoriented, but the Dive didn’t drain her of all her energy. Lailah was also still awake, and she felt refreshed with her Silver Flame ability ready for use once again.

“Alisha!” she giggled as she threw her arms around her neck. “You did it! I can feel the fires! We can purify the drake!”

“Glad to hear it worked, my dear,” Alisha happily replied.

They had finished not long after Sorey and Edna completed their session, but they noticed that Mikleo was still afraid of them. Clutching the Shepherd’s robe, he clenched his teeth. Alisha looked over at Sorey, who was looking sicker after his Dive into Edna and sadder that Mikleo was still scared.

“Sorey…?” she uttered. The Shepherd turned to her. “Don’t worry about him. Once we purify the drake and you get better, you can Dive into him and fix him.”

“But I need to Dive now—I can’t stand it anymore,” Sorey said.

Edna bopped his head. “You idiot,” she said. “If you try to Dive into him while you’re on the verge of death yourself, you won’t accomplish anything but dying.”

Lailah rested a hand on his shoulder. “Edna’s right. You should have noticed by now that Diving came be detrimental to the human vessel’s health. After we purify the drake, you must rest before you can even think of Diving into him.

Sorey had no other choice but to listen to his friends. The Dive into Edna had taken more out of him, and the persistent cough was worsening. The next time he had to cough, he found red specks in the palm of the Shepherd’s glove. Anxiety hit him, the fear of death encroaching upon him. He had to save Mikleo before he expired.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was also partly inspired by No Logic by Luka.


	21. Phase 1: The Blessing of Marlind

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With Lailah able to use her Silver Flame again, Sorey and his friends prepare to stop the drake terrorizing the village. Will this be enough to change Mikleo's heart and allow Sorey to Dive into him?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yep, organic chemistry, cosplay, and now Persona 5. I have control of my life -twitch-
> 
>  **PARTS OF THIS CHAPTER ARE BEING WITHHELD AT THE MOMENT, INCLUDING THE TITLE.** I wanted to actually produce the original songs I did write for this fanfiction. UTAU is being a pain in the ass and I don't know how to fix the program-breaking error (and while I know Japanese, I don't know technical Japanese to read the install directions, which isn't even the beginning of the problem). As such, I won't be posting the Hymmnos/Ar Ciela lyrics for this chapter until I can fix the program or I can find someone that can help me make the songs.

The villagers returned with a new face. It was a man with a scar across the bridge of his nose with a brigade of others at his command. Either by coincidence or by choice, they only wore mustard-yellow clothes as if to represent their independence from Hyland’s blue knights and Rolance’s red knights. He claimed to be a mercenary of some sort, and he was holding a box of orpiment ore that he had been smuggling from one of the warring states.

“We found someone that could maybe help you all,” the group leader said.

“The name’s Lucas,” the mercenary introduced himself. “Heard y’all got a problem with the humans running the seraphim into the ground.”

Alisha stood up, asserting her position as the princess. She bowed in greeting to him, explaining the situation in Marlind. As Lucas and the group behind him listened to the heartbreaking story, the mercenary thought about what it all meant. Of course, the righteous princess of the kingdom that was sealing away the consciousness of their seraphim so they could be hosts in the Seraphoid Project was against the cruelty, and since the Shepherd was there to balance the two states while liberating all seraphim, it would have seemed like they wanted to solely grow their numbers to fight against both Hyland and Rolance. Lucas scoffed at the idea of helping them when there was no profit to be made.

“B-But, sir, you said you would help!” the group leader cried.

“I said I would think about it,” Lucas retorted. “I’m not looking to get myself killed, and who’s to say that the seraphim won’t try to kill us if we help them? But…”

Sorey crawled to him, curling on his hands and knees.

“Please,” he said. “Please, help us.” His voice was shaky and almost too quiet to hear.

“Sorey, stand up!” Alisha commanded him. “You don’t need to be on the ground for this!”

“If I must grovel at the feet of mercenaries and bandits to ensure help, I will.” He looked up at Lucas. “Lucas, you may not feel obliged, but allow me to tell you why it’s imperative we stop the force of greed. The Kingdom of Hyland is torturing the seraphim and killing humans to create hybrids to fight. They’ve captured us before, and…and now…” Sorey bowed against to hide his tears. “The one closest to me is too afraid to fight back. I don’t want this to happen to anyone else—human or seraph—so please help us!”

Lucas scrutinized him because he had never seen anyone so fervent in their beliefs. He set the orpiment down, and Edna eyed it from her place next to Lailah. He mulled over the situation, and he knew the consequences of getting wrapped up in all this mess. 

“Alright, I’ll help out, but there’s a price,” he finally said. He demanded that they gave him ten thousand gald for his men’s services. 

Alisha was against the idea since it defeated the purpose of expelling greed, but Sorey pulled out a coin pouch. It wasn’t enough money, but he thought he would be able to pay the rest later. He just needed their help. He coughed as he lifted the pouch to him.

Lucas was amazed that he was trying so hard despite being stricken with what he thought was the plague. He didn’t want to be infected, but he couldn’t ignore that he was offering all the money he had.

“You really need our help, don’t you,” he said.

Lucas gently pushed his hand down. It was a test to see if he was desperate enough to relinquish all he had just for the temporary service of a bunch of vagabonds. Sorey was confused, but Lucas promised to help him for free.

“Thank you,” Sorey told him gratefully. “You don’t know how much this means to me.”

Edna approached the man after the exchange had been finished, and using her umbrella, she pointed at the box of orpiment ores. “Don’t you know that stuff is poisonous?” she asked him. She didn’t give him time to answer. “Give me a piece of it, but throw the rest of it out, like, now. It’s dumb to have this around people who are already dying.”

“Edna, a little more tact goes a long way,” Alisha scolded.

“Don’t let an idiot human make idiot mistakes. Besides, we can purify the drake now, so let’s get a move on. The longer we wait, the more malevolence is going to corrupt the seraphim here and kill the remaining people.”

She took a palm-sized piece of the ore from the box. Reluctantly, she bit into it. She hated that it was the only way to develop specific songs, but on the bright side, she wouldn’t be poisoned by it now that she had attained that level of resistance thanks to Diving.

She glowed as she absorbed whatever song held within, and before long, she was ready to go. There was only one thing left to do—they had to figure out how to bring down the drake. Sorey, standing up and coughing again, thought long and hard. The only way he could think to do it was to shoot it down with Mikleo’s bow, but because the Divine Artifact could only be touched by the seraph that owned it, he was sure it would impossible without Mikleo’s cooperation. He didn’t want to force him to work with him if he wasn’t ready. On the other hand, they were running out of time.

“Lucas, can you take this group and your men to _peacefully_ free whatever seraphim you can and evacuate the area? We have a dragon to purify,” Alisha told him.

“It’s a drake, Alisha,” Lailah corrected.

“A-A drake. Nonetheless, we need everyone away from the sanctuary.”

Lucas nodded, rallying the group that gave mercy to the dying seraphim behind him and his men, and headed out into the village. Alisha and Lailah turned to Sorey, who forced himself to walk to Mikleo. The water seraph was almost in a trance as he clung to the Shepherd’s garb, and when he registered that Sorey had come within in inches of him, he tensed again.

“Stay away…” he whimpered.

The brunet let out a sigh, coming even close to him.

“I-I’m warning you,” Mikleo threatened.

As gently as he could, Sorey pulled him into his arms, but Mikleo panicked. He shot a water projectile into him, which knocked the wind out of him and sent him back a small distance. He curled up in the corner of the museum that had become his sanctuary.

Sorey refused to back down. He got up again, this time slowly reaching for him. Mikleo was prepared to fire at him again; however, this time Sorey held his face so he could look him in the eyes. The fear was still there. He anticipated that he would fight back.

“Mikleo, listen to me,” Sorey softly, calmly to him. He touched his forehead to his, making the water seraph flinch. “You’re not going to like this, but I need your help.” Mikleo tried to pull away. “Please, you’re the only one who can do this. I’m not asking you to sing or do anything like that. I need you to help me. Lend me your strength to use the Sacred Bow for one shot, and then I’ll leave you alone again.”

“How do I know this isn’t a trap?” Mikleo whispered. “How do I know you’re not going to hurt me like that old man did?”

Sorey shook his head. “I love you, Mikleo, and I would never intentionally hurt you—not even slightly. Can you trust me?”

Mikleo didn’t answer him, but it was enough that he said something other than to stay away and that he was scared. Sorey took his hand while he kept a tight hold on the cloak for the sense of security. Watching that, the sickly Shepherd was sure that there was still a part of the water seraph he had always loved.

“Great, now that you’ve kissed and made up, let’s go get the drake,” Edna said.

The five of them headed out to the clearing that was just before the Dumnonia Museum where they could clearly see the sky. Soaring high above them, there was the miniscule silhouette of the drake.

“Here’s the plan,” Sorey said. “Mikleo and I will shoot it down, Edna will sing her song to weaken it while Alisha and I fight it, and Lailah will use her Silver Flame to purify it.”

It was a solid plan, but whether or not Mikleo would cooperate had yet to be determined. The house of the village chief was nearby and would be a high enough spot to fire the arrow. While Armatizing would have made things tremendously easier with Mikleo’s aim and Sorey’s strength combined, they hadn’t Dived enough to be able to fuse together. It was actually painful to think about how eager Mikleo had been to Dive with Sorey. He wanted to become stronger for him. Now he only just beginning to trust him again. It would be a long time before he could Dive. It drove Sorey crazy. He hoped that their teamwork would at least help make everything go faster so he could see in his soul again.

Sorey pulled himself up onto the roof of the house before pulling Mikleo up with him. He had the Sacred Bow in hand, and it seemed like he was going to let Sorey do everything until he was pulled close to him. Holding the bow up with their hands together, Mikleo began to panic again.

“Everything will be okay,” Sorey whispered in his ear. He tightened his grip to reassure him.

Mikleo’s hand guarded Sorey’s hand from the burning sensation that the Sacred Bow gave off to ward off humans. Mikleo took aim, and Sorey pulled back on the string. Both of them focused. Mikleo’s power was channeled into the arrow, and Sorey let go once he was sure that it would hit.

Like a shooting star, the arrow sped towards the drake, striking it in the heart. It fell to the ground, and when it was within the radius of Edna’s Song Magic **[TITLE REDACTED]** , she began to sing:

**[LYRICS REDACTED]**

**[LYRICS REDACTED]**

The drake crashed into the ground, howling in pain with the arrow piercing deeper into its chest, and with the Song Magic sapping its strength, it was raring to fight them for its survival. Sorey hopped down from the roof. Alisha stood by his side. She knew that he was in no condition to participate in combat considering he was still reeling from Mikleo’s stunted recovery. She also knew that she couldn’t stop him. Mikleo remained on the roof away from the battle, and Lailah took her position next to Alisha.

“Let’s go!” Alisha cried out, initiating the battle.

Dashing across the open field, she closed the distance between herself and the drake. She slashed and stabbed at its legs, immobilizing it temporarily as Sorey leapt above it. As he fell, he called out, “Shatterfang!” His sword struck the scaly skin between the shafts of the horns, and luckily the drake was stunned for a few seconds. “Lailah, now’s your chance!”

Lailah formed fireballs around her papers, flinging them like bullets at the drake until it reoriented itself. Even with Edna singing as much as she could, the drake was still able to fight back with plenty of power. It roared over her song, causing her to falter and thus allowing it to regain some of its strength.

“Alisha, it’s headed your way!” Lailah warned her human while firing as many fireballs as she could.

The princess knight dodged, but in doing so, Sorey was swatted to the side. Mikleo saw this from where he was. The Shepherd had been wounded by its talons slashing into his side; seeing this, a hurtful pang resonated through Mikleo like his stomach had violently lurched forward. Why was he sickened by seeing this human get hurt?

“Imbuement!” Lailah chanted with the hope that her healing Arte could speed the recovery process up.

While it helped a little, Sorey was still debilitated. Part of him hoped that Mikleo would offer a helping hand, but he knew he couldn’t rely on him right now to help them. If he froze during the fight, he would be killed.

“Don’t worry about me, Lailah, just focus on weakening him!” Sorey commanded.

Edna continued to sing despite her feeling winded by the amount of energy was required to slow the drake down:

**[LYRICS REDACTED]**

**[LYRICS REDACTED]**

**[LYRICS REDACTED]**

Alisha vaulted onto the drake’s neck with her spear. She thought that she could try to pierce its wings or back. Unfortunately, her spear wasn’t strong enough, and the blade shattered when it hit its diamond-hard scales. She didn’t care though; a broken spear was still more useful than no spear at all. She did what anyone would have done next and beat the monster on the head with the shaft.

Sorey winced in pain. It wasn’t just the gash that was impairing him. He had tried to ignore it, but his coughing was getting worse. It hurt to breathe, the air passing in and out of his lungs setting them on fire. The fighting wasn’t making it better. The infected air brought on by the malevolence and the plague around him was worse.

Edna kept singing:

**[LYRICS REDACTED]**

**[LYRICS REDACTED]**

**[LYRICS REDACTED]**

Lailah flicked her flames at the drake as it neared Sorey with saliva dripping from its teeth. It was no doubt hungry, and a tall young man would be a wonderful appetizer before feasting on the rest of the village.

Sorey was trembling, but he forced himself to stand up. “Can…tering Flames…!” he coughed.

He used all his might in the attack. The drake swatted him to the side like a cat playing with a ball, and again Mikleo’s stomach twisted. He watched the drake trap him under its foot, slowly pressing down on his chest. Sorey cried out in agony.

“S-Stop!” Mikleo screamed. He leapt from the roof with his staff in hand and a terrified look in his eyes. “Freeze Lancer!” he frantically said. Floating icicles formed around him.  
“Stop hurting him!”

Lailah and Alisha, having not heard his voice in so long, were startled by the sudden conviction to protect Sorey. Edna, still singing, was also surprised.

**[LYRICS REDACTED]**

**[LYRICS REDACTED]**

As the song ended, Mikleo flung the spears into the drake. It was finally incapacitated, and Sorey was able to crawl from under its foot. Lailah immediately came to his side with Alisha pulling him farther away.

“I shall now purify you; Silver Flame!” Lailah recited. The body of the drake was engulfed in her silvery blue flames. The malevolence that had swallowed the seraph and transformed him into the monster burned away, and in a few seconds, the true form of the seraph was revealed. “We did it!”

The seraph woke up within a few moments, his orange and white clothes torn and bloodied. He was an older seraph with auburn hair. He had bruises on his face and hands. Mikleo watched him, horrified.

“The humans did it to you, too,” he whimpered. It was as if he had reverted to the scared child from before. “They can’t be trusted.”

“Shut it, Meebo,” Edna snapped.

The seraph looked as if he had accepted his fate; he believed that Sorey and Alisha had enslaved their seraphim and were going to enslave him again. But Sorey knelt down to him. His smile was warm and comforting even though everything else about him looked worn out.

“You don’t have to be afraid,” he soothingly said to him. “You were the source of the malevolence that brought the plague, but we saved you from it. You’ll be safe.”

A few of the villagers—mostly women and children—inched into the clearing to see what the Shepherd and the Squire had done. Their eyes were clear now, and once they realized how sick the seraphim had been due to overwork and mulling around in infected people, they did everything in their power to stop the greedy merchants and workers from using them. Lucas and the group that had been trying to free them rallied behind them once the village had settled and things were slowly going back to normal in addition to the emancipation. Sorey and Alisha were proud. As an added bonus, they thought they might be able to use the inn so the seraph could recover.

“What is your name?” Lailah asked him.

“M-My name…?” he replied. “It’s been so long since anyone has asked. My name is Rohan.”

“Rohan, please join us at the inn for a rest.”

“Assuming we can get in, but I guess that’s what we have Little Miss Princess here for,” Edna sighed. She twirled her umbrella.

Sorey let out a giggle before turning to Mikleo. He was happy that he came to his rescue yet let down that seeing Rohan like this right after their fight against him had scared him. He wanted to thank him at least. As soon as he opened his mouth, the horrible cough seized his lungs. The bout progressively got worse until he fell to his knees. His chest ached, his head pounded, his throat burned, and when he looked at one of his palms, larges splotches of blood stained his gloves bright red.

A feeling of panic welled inside. He couldn’t stop coughing. Was this because of Mikleo or was it because of the remnants of the plague? His vision and hearing were tunneling.

“We need to get him to the inn!” Alisha said. She and Lailah hefted Sorey onto their shoulders while Edna and Rohan followed behind.

Mikleo remained in the clearing by Marlind’s Great Tree. He looked up at its ancient branches. He heard Alisha begging for help as they encountered the villagers. He had seen with his own eyes that Sorey and his friends saved Rohan. He, himself, had jumped in to protect him. He was still afraid of him, of humans. He, however, wanted to see if he genuinely cared about Rohan. It wouldn’t change his mind yet because it might have been a ploy.

***

Alisha rented a room for both Sorey and Rohan. Sorey’s coughing had quieted for the moment; he was wheezing despite purporting that he was perfectly okay. Rohan, just like Lailah and Edna, told him that he needed to rest.

“You’ve done enough!” Alisha chastised. “You’ve been expending energy to heal Mikleo, but then you also took on a mutant hellion in the museum then you Dove into Edna, then you used your energy again to fire the arrow at Rohan, then you _fought_ Rohan and got hurt—Sorey, you need to give yourself a break!”

“But the plague and malevolence should be gone now,” Sorey rasped. “We need to free the seraphim here, and I have to Dive into Mikleo to fix him so he’s not scared of us.”

“And if you do that while you’re in this condition, you’re going to die, and who’s going to be the Savior of the Seraphim if you kick the bucket?” Edna scolded.

Sorey looked away from her because she had a point. Still, he couldn’t rest until he had down everything he could to make things happy for everyone. After freeing the seraphim and healing Mikleo from the inside out, he had to find a way to ensure that the greedy didn’t trap seraphim again, and then there was protecting the seraphim that decided to leave Marlind. But if he tried to do anything now, he was confident that one of them would knock him out.

“Delivery!” a familiar voice came from behind the door. Rohan was ready to jump out the window, but Lailah and Alisha assured him that everything was okay. The door opened, and Rose waltzed in with a package. “Wow, two more seraphim? Jeez, Sorey, if you weren’t the Shepherd, I’d have thought you were a slave driver, too! Oh man, what happened to you?” Rose said.

After a lengthy explanation, Rose was heartbroken. The whole ordeal made her worry about Dezel’s safety in the Hyland region—not that he would have been useful to the Church. She opened the package, which was one of hundreds for the sick, and pulled out a small vial of medicine. If what had happened to Mikleo was the cause of it, she knew that the sickness rendering Sorey unfit for travel wouldn’t go away. She hoped that it would alleviate some of the symptoms.

“I just think that I should Dive into Mikleo and get to the root of the problem,” Sorey battled after another coughing fit. “I think I’m getting through to him…”

Rose touched his hand after giving him the medicine. She had been out of the loop, but she knew that Sorey cared deeply for him. “Do you want me to go find him? Maybe he’ll feel safer now that he can see you can’t go after him like he thinks you will.”

“Rose, that might make things worse,” Lailah reminded. “It’s best to just leave it for now. When Mikleo feels comfortable, he’ll come with us.”

“He’s too scared to go on his own, much less to hang outside in the open,” Edna added.

Rohan, hearing all that had happened, stood up. He declared that he would bring Mikleo back—if Sorey was willing to risk his life for him and to save a town of trapped seraphim, there wasn’t anything to be afraid of. It had been far too long since they had a Shepherd, and they couldn’t lose the one they had now. He left the inn in search of Mikleo.

***

Rohan found Mikleo still standing by the Great Tree clutching the Shepherd’s cloak in his trembling hands. His violet eyes were red like he had been trying to suppress whatever tears managed to leak out.

“Young Water Seraph,” he called to him. When he approached him, Mikleo took a few steps back. “Please listen to what I have to say.”

“Is it to go back that human? The one who’s trying to save everyone?” Mikleo questioned. Hugging the cloak, he looked up at the older earth seraph. “I’m going, but…there’s something telling me to stay away from him. Humans can’t be trusted.”

“But you can trust this one. I heard it with my own ears how much he loves you and has put on the line. I understand that you’re scared; I was scared, too. I became a drake! But this young man is doing whatever he can to keep you from turning into a dragon, and now he’s dying.”

Mikleo’s eyes widened. How could Sorey be dying? Was it because of the torture? The malevolence? Both? He never intended him to die. His brain urged him to keep his distance, but in the deepest recesses of his heart, he had to be at his side. Without another word, he ran to the inn. He understood now—he didn’t care about Sorey, he cared about staying alive. If his vessel died, then he would die, too.

At the inn, the medicine was having no effect. Sorey coughed up blood, and he was hot with fever. Every breath wracked his body with pain. Rose and Alisha tried to find a medic in the village while Lailah and Edna used their Artes to heal him, but they didn’t have the healing power that water seraphim had.

“I didn’t think it would be this bad,” Lailah guiltily whispered.

“Lailah, it’s not your fault,” Edna told her. “If Meebo would let Sorey close to him to heal him, then…”

Mikleo hastily entered the room with a few other villagers and Rohan behind him. They had followed him after he entered the inn and walked up to the room housing his friends. They thought he was an intruder, but now in their savior’s presence, they could only watch what was to happen in that room.

“M-Mikleo! You came back!” Lailah said with surprise.

“About time,” Edna grumbled.

“Rohan said he’s dying,” Mikleo quietly told him. “If he dies, then I die.”

“I’m starting to think this was a bad idea. He was wanting to die before, what if he’s here to kill him off?”

“Don’t be silly, Edna!” Lailah tearfully said.

Mikleo touched his forehead where Sorey had placed his before the fight against Rohan. The spot was just above where his circlet was. He bent down to Sorey’s ailing body, listening to his heart beat slowly in his chest and the wheezing echoing in his lungs. Dried blood stained the corners of his mouth.

“O Holy Fountain…” Mikleo started his incantation. “Heal our wounds.”

His porcelain hand glided over Sorey’s head and chest as a light shined, lifting the sickness from him. It wouldn’t completely fix him, but the malevolence that he had steeped in had made it tremendously worse. With the healing, Mikleo made it bearable.

Sorey opened his eyes, and the first thing he saw was Mikleo. He wasn’t scared but there was still hesitation. Lailah and Edna took a step forward as he wiped the bloodstains from his mouth. He carefully sat up so he didn’t scare him off, but even if he had been abrupt, the water seraph wasn’t moving.

“Mikleo,” he said. Carefully, he took Mikleo’s face into his hands, bring it closer to his face and kissing it lovingly. “Thank you.”

“Finally,” Edna sighed. She hid behind her umbrella, and a satisfied or relieved smile curled on her lips.

Mikleo swallowed. Now he was having difficulty speaking. “S-Sorey…I grant you permission to Dive into me,” he said. His voice quivered since he didn’t know what demons lie in his heart. He wanted to believe in him, and it would only happen once he was purged of whatever fear was holding him back.

“Ah, Rohan! Go get Alisha and Rose! Take everyone else with you!” Lailah quickly ordered. “Sorey and Mikleo are finally going to Dive again!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It felt really good writing Edna's song and then having Mikleo come in and save Sorey even though he's still afraid of him. What? It's just a thing I like in stories! Either the weaker of two getting hurt in front of the stronger or the weaker of the two trying to protect the stronger from things like drakes and death and stuff.


	22. Phase 1: Forgiveness

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cosmosphere Level 3: Mikleo  
>  _Ma num ra chs pic wasara mea,_  
>  _en fwal syec mea._  
>  _Was yea ra chs mea yor_  
>  _en fwal en chs hymme._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not touching this for about three weeks revitalized my love for this chapter. It seems like an abridged version, but nonetheless I thought it was emotional...but that's also probably because it was late and I was tired. Heh.

Rohan did as he was told, forcing the villagers that had followed him and Mikleo to the inn out and bringing Alisha and Rose back inside. It struck Alisha that Rose had never seen an actual Dive, and while the merchant wanted to Dive into Dezel, she wasn’t sure if she could handle even just watching what happened.

“I mean, technically, you don’t see what happens, but there’s a lot of…stuff…that goes into the Dive, and Dezel is a prickly seraph,” Alisha told her. “I highly doubt he would let you do it. And if he did, you’d probably be in more danger than either me or Sorey.”

“Nonsense! That big prickleboar just has never heard of what it’s like, and I get to see it firsthand!” Rose happily said. “Now, Sorey, Mikleo, sally forth into the realm of desires and dreams!”

“That’s not even what the soul space consists of,” Edna corrected.

“Everyone, calm down! This is the first time that Sorey is going inside of Mikleo’s soul space since…” Lailah’s voice trailed off.

Sorey and Mikleo stood in front of each other. The former took a deep breath as he prepared for what might try to kill him inside of Mikleo. He knew the water seraph was still reluctant to having him walk around in his soul. He couldn’t blame him. He had been through so much but he was happy that they could finally make progress. He wished he had been able to take a bath first, but since they were going to be on different existential plane, perhaps cleanliness was not necessary.

“Are you ready?” Sorey asked him. Mikleo nodded. “ _Luzrov Rulay!_ ”

The Armatization and holding the Sacred Bow felt odd, but Sorey attributed it to Mikleo still being apprehensive. He sat on the floor with the bow in front of him then closed his eyes.

“That’s it?” Rose complained. “Man, I was hoping for some cool light show! Gotta admit, though, that outfit is nice.”

“I can see why your seraph won’t let you walk into their soul,” Edna insulted. “Diving is a dangerous process between the human and the seraph. Sorey’s done it enough now to be careful in Mikleo’s soul, but I have to wonder what would happen if you were to Dive into someone’s soul. Wait, no, it would be a nightmare for the poor seraph.”

“Hey, you don’t have to be mean…”

Alisha and Lailah giggled. “In due time, Dezel will let you in—maybe,” Lailah assured.

Rose smiled at her, yet she wondered if the blind wind seraph would be willing to at least try it. He had already explicitly said he had no interest in it nor would he let Rose set one foot into him. She wasn’t even sure if telling him about the process would have an effect on him.

Within the shared soul space, Sorey was alone. It wasn’t as dark as it had been when he had been infected with a Virus, yet it felt like sub-zero weather. Why was it so cold?

 _“Mikleo, where are you?”_ he called.

Mikleo approached from behind, but he was less than happy to see him. He didn’t say anything to him. If he had to guess, Sorey figured that he still felt disconnected from him and that’s why his soul was uninviting. He dreaded seeing Gaine, but there was no other way around it. He braced himself.

\----------------------------------------------------------------

When Sorey opened his eyes, he found that the soul space looked relatively normal. The setting this time, albeit having the Stonehenge, was Marlind. The village was covered in foliage, and at first, he thought that maybe Mikleo was back to normal but he was having a hard time showing.

“Jeez-Louise!” Gaine scoffed. “How could he love a simpleton like you? Do you really think he’s back to normal?” He stood atop a moss-covered rock.

“Of course,” Sorey murmured. He turned to the Normin trying his best not to show how dissatisfied he was finding him there with him. Mikleo needed his mind guardian, but he would have much preferred if Acqua had that role. Gaine was…abusive. “Hi, Gaine.”

“Don’t give me that! Look, pal, if you’re going to be this guy’s crutch, then support him! It’ll make my job easier!”

Wherever this rage was coming from, it made Sorey feel worse than he let on. He couldn’t waste time focusing on the bratty Normin. He asked it where he could find Mikleo, and as usual, Gaine was blasé and gave a vague answer.

Sorey walked to the center of Marlind. Following his gut, he then went to the sanctuary. The apparitions of the other seraphim that had only recently been freed drifted around the village, faceless and transparent. At first, he wondered if Mikleo thought that their freedom meant they were devoid of their identities.

“Mikleo, you’re making it creepier than it has to be here…” Sorey mumbled. “No, I have to be strong. Besides, Mikleo couldn’t be scary even if he tried!”

Entering the sanctuary, he found a familiar blonde head with a peace lily in the side ponytail. Alisha was sitting in one of the pews closest to the front apparently praying to the altar before her. It was strange since Sorey and Mikleo never pegged her as the religious type, but considering that she was in a relationship with Lailah, it didn’t seem too out of the ordinary.

“Alisha?” Sorey said as he walked to the front to meet her.

“Who are you? How do you know my name?” Alisha hacked. Her skin was pale, her jade eyes dull with exhaustion.

“Uh, that’s not important. Is everything okay?”

“I was tending to the sick and elderly, but I believe I might have caught the plague as well. I was told that the seraphim would heal me if I prayed. It seems far-fetched, but I read in an old book that seraphim answered prayers.”

Sorey remembered reading about that once as well. He used to tell Mikleo—fervently at that—that he would pray to him every day if it meant forever being allowed to listen to him sing. What if the Mikleo of that world had that ability? He had to find him, and he had to make him sing for Alisha.

The hopeful Shepherd checked every building in the village, but Mikleo was nowhere to be found. He had thought that he would be at the inn only to be disappointed that it was empty. The only place he didn’t check was the Dunmonia Museum. He entered the museum, where he heard a quiet humming.

“Mikleo, are you in here?” Sorey asked.

The humming stopped abruptly, and a white-to-blue head peeked out from behind the front desk. He stood up to reveal a pale blue kimono with magic circle prints on the bottom. A dull purple scarf wrapped around his neck, and a teal cardigan draped around his shoulders. Next to him was a blue Normin named Wresst.

“Sorey?” Mikleo whispered.

“Do you know him?” Wresst asked with a female voice.

Mikleo vaulted over the front desk with his staff in his hand. He threw his arms around his neck in a hug that filled both of them with comforting warmth. Wresst joined them. Sorey looked at Mikleo’s face and noticed that he had started tearing up.

“I know him,” the water seraph told Wresst. “He’s the only human that protects me.”

Sorey was flattered, but it wasn’t true. As much as he wanted to talk with him and ask him how he felt now that his soul space was almost regenerated, they didn’t have that time. He knelt down with Mikleo—calmness was key with him. He explained that Alisha was sick and that he needed his power to heal her.

“I…I don’t know if I can do that,” Mikleo immediately replied. “She’s a human. She’s someone that wants to hurt seraphim. She’s not like you.”

Sorey thought of what he could say to change Mikleo’s mind. Simply stating that Alisha was a friend wouldn’t do any good. He asked him about his clothes. According to the world of the third level, Mikleo’s clothes were symbolic of his status in the village, which apparently had been run by seraphim instead of humans deciding to let them go free. It didn’t explain why Alisha was there. Regardless, Mikleo was a healer in the village charged with the task of ridding anyone of the plague.

Without anything else to do, Sorey left Mikleo at the museum. He sought out Gaine with the hope that it could answer a few questions. He was prepared not to get the straight answers he wanted that would save him time and energy, but anything helped.

“I guess I can help you out,” Gaine said in front of the Great Tree. “So Mikleo’s a healer in this world? What do you think that means?”

“It’s his desire to protect, but I don’t get why he doesn’t want to help Alisha,” Sorey replied.

“Obviously this place is still scarred from what happened in Ladylake, and the fear of humans has permeated this far. Even I’m a little concerned because if this doesn’t get fixed, he won’t be able to develop his singing.”

Sorey sighed. He had to convince him that Alisha meant no harm, but going about it was the difficult part. He left Gaine to investigate the town again. He headed to the inn, where he found Edna and Lailah talking briefly about Alisha. He thought that they could be of some help, but when he realized they were expressing how nervous they were about having her in the village with the other seraphim, it was pointless. Other seraphim had the same sentiments—Alisha was too dangerous and should be left for dead, Alisha was a trickster and should be kicked out of the village, Alisha was this, Alisha was that. Being the only other human, it was up to Sorey to prove that she was safe.

Sorey returned to the sanctuary where Alisha was still praying with all her heart for healing. “Alisha,” he said. “Would you mind it if I brought a seraph here to heal you?”

“Not at all,” Alisha coughed. “I was beginning to think that it was silly to think that my prayers would be answered. If you know a seraph that’s willing to heal me, then please bring them.”

The plan seemed like it would work, so he dashed to the museum. If he was with Mikleo, then he would feel better. That is, until he saw who was in the museum with him.

“Mikleo?” Sorey uttered. “Why is that one here?”

The tainted version of Mikleo was whispering into his ear, “Humans only want to hurt seraphim. You have unimaginable power. You could kill Alisha. She’s sick, too, so you would be doing everyone a favor. Eradicate the pestilence and anyone who carries it.”

“But my job is to heal people,” Mikleo whimpered.

“Make it look like an accident then if you’re worried that someone’s going to freak out.” He twirled Mikleo’s hair in his slender fingers.

Sorey tried to slash what he thought was a remnant of the Virus from before, but he noticed that there was no malevolence coming from it. It wasn’t the Virus but the representation of Mikleo’s fear and hatred. He couldn’t strike him down without wounding him again.

“Whoever you are, leave Mikleo alone,” he instead demanded.

Wresst ran over to Sorey’s feet, a worried expression on its face. “Sorey, you’ve got to do something! That evil Mikleo is telling him to kill Alisha! I don’t want blood on his hands!”

Before he could stop Mikleo and his wicked counterpart, the two were had left for the sanctuary. The frightened Shepherd scooped the Normin into his hands, carrying it as he frantically ran to stop his beloved seraph from making a huge mistake.

“Alisha,” Mikleo said. The princess knight turned around. She looked relieved that a seraph had finally come. “I have been told that you are deathly ill. Please, allow me to heal you.”

The foolish princess knight agreed as she stood before him. She closed her eyes, and she couldn’t see that her savior was preparing to pierce her heart with ice. The tainted Mikleo urged him to thrust the icy spear into her chest, and the healer Mikleo reluctantly raised it into the air.

“Mikleo, no, don’t do it!” Sorey cried out. He pushed the tainted Mikleo aside then hugged his dear seraph from behind after falling to his knees from the sprint there. His ear on his back, he could hear Mikleo’s trembling breaths reverberating throughout his chest. “You can’t kill her! Alisha is harmless! Humans are harmless! Only a handful want to hurt seraphim, but there are so many that want to help you!”

“But humans want to hurt us, Sorey! Why can’t you see that? You’re the only one who wants to protect us, but how can you be so sure that Alisha isn’t one of them?” Mikleo sobbed.

“Stop interfering, human!” the tainted Mikleo growled. He summoned his staff from the dark energy amassing in his hands.

“Master Mikleo, trust in Sorey, not the darkness that had taken root in your heart!” Wresst begged.

Alisha stepped back after opening her eyes to see that Mikleo had planned to murder her. She felt backwards and subsequently curled up in fear. The seraphim were supposed to be kind, so why did one want to kill her?

Mikleo broke free from Sorey’s embrace. As he escaped the confusion within the sanctuary, tears fell from his cheeks. Wresst went after him, and the tainted Mikleo followed. There was no time to calm Alisha. Sorey had to get to Mikleo before the tainted one did.

All of them ended up at the Stonehenge, where Mikleo and Wresst were cornered by the tainted Mikleo who was telling them to kill Alisha then to kill Sorey. “ _All_ humans are evil; there is no good one among them!” he declared.

“But I didn’t sense malevolence coming from Alisha,” Mikleo sniffled. “Her heart was pure just like Sorey’s. Sorey is the purest human. I love him, so why must I kill him?”

The tainted Mikleo accosted them with his staff in hand, but Sorey slid between him and the other with his sword guarding against it. The tainted Mikleo was powerful, but Mikleo was stronger. All he had to do was state it.

“Mikleo, do you believe that all humans are evil?” Sorey questioned as he pushed back against the tainted one. “If you don’t believe what this guy is saying, then place your trust in me! Place all the love you have in your heart into my sword!”

Mikleo stared up at Sorey. He wiped his tears away and professed, “I believe in you, Sorey!”

Sorey deflected the tainted Mikleo’s attack, and Mikleo continued to tell him that he loved him and he loved all humans. The fear that had given birth to the tainted Mikleo was slowly diminishing with Mikleo taking the lead until a bright light shined in his chest. It caused him immense pain, and Wresst tried to lessen it while Sorey held him safely in his arms. The light ejected from him. Blinding everyone in the vicinity, the form that materialized from it took a stand against the tainted Mikleo. It was another Mikleo dressed as he normally did with his turquoise and gold clothes.

“Another Mikleo?” Sorey whispered. The healer Mikleo collapsed; he was exhausted but unharmed. The energy that had been in the light seemed to have drained him, but he was still conscious. “Who are you?”

“God, the goody-two-shoes just had to show up,” the tainted Mikleo scoffed. He put away his staff.

“Hello, other me,” the shining Mikleo greeted. A pair of angel wings formed behind him which shielded the Shepherd and his seraph from the darkness in front of them. “You’ve tried exceptionally hard to keep me confined within him, and I must commend you for that; however, the hate and fear you spew is not welcome here. If you wish to remain part of this soul, then I suggest you hide yourself in the deepest hole you can find in his subconscious.”

The tainted Mikleo clenched his teeth. He knew he was largely outnumbered. There was no other option than to listen to this angelic Mikleo, but he promised that he would be back. It was a lie that humans weren’t evil, and he was going to prove it.

“Just you wait, Shepherd,” the tainted Mikleo threatened. “Once you Dive deeper, you’ll know just how this pathetic excuse of a seraph feels about you and your kind.” He faded away into the nothingness that led to a deeper level in the soul space.

Sorey looked down at the exhausted Mikleo leaning against him then up at the angelic Mikleo that had protected them from the darkness in his heart. He couldn’t begin to think of a sign of gratitude, but the angelic Mikleo didn’t want one. His face was stoic, but there was a kindness that Sorey was familiar with emanating from his presence.

“Mikleo, what is your answer? Do you believe that all humans are evil?” the angelic Mikleo asked him.

“No, Sorey is kind and pure, and so is Alisha—she didn’t have any malevolence in her heart.”

“What about all humans?”

“Most humans don’t mean to do harm, but…” Mikleo thought about why there was fear and hatred. “But humans are capable of evil things like greed and anger. In reality, seraphim can experience such things, but that doesn’t mean we can’t repent. Humans are just as capable of doing good and helping us as we are capable of doing bad and harming them.” He turned to Sorey. “I’m sorry the real me has been so scared of you. Bartlow did horrible things to us, and the memories and the pain are both very real. This is not an excuse to hurt you or lock you out of my heart, Sorey. I’m sorry for everything I’ve done to you—even sapping you of your strength when you needed it most.”

Sorey blushed. He had never heard Mikleo sound so earnest, but he appreciated it. He ruffled his hair then kissed his head. “There’s nothing to apologize for! I’m just glad you’re back to normal. Now, let’s go and heal Alisha.”

Mikleo and Wresst walked back to the sanctuary while the angelic Mikleo stayed behind. He grabbed Sorey’s wrist at the last minute. “Gentle Shepherd, please hear my plea,” he softly said. Sorey looked at him. Even though this Mikleo was a carbon copy of the real one, there was an ethereal aura about him. Perhaps it was the shining wings or the strange gentleness in his amethyst eyes. He looked like a delicate snow flower. “Mikleo will get stronger as long as you’re with him, but he’s vulnerable to the malevolence. Water is easily corruptible—don’t forget this. What happened to spawn that tainted Mikleo can happen again. It may not be by Bartlow’s hands, but if he’s exposed to someone with more malevolence than him, you must promise me that you will do everything in your power to keep him safe.”

Sorey placed his hands on his shoulder. A heroic look painted his face as he told him, “Mikleo is the embodiment of my dream, and I _intend_ to do everything I can to protect him.”

Back at the sanctuary, Alisha cautiously approached Mikleo. Sorey entered just in time to watch the healing. Wresst glowed as Mikleo chanted a spell in Hymmnos:

_Was yea ra aterra enne yor afezeria pitod heetha_

Almost immediately, Alisha felt better than ever, and the plague that had wracked her body with pain disappeared. The Stonehenge glowed as Alisha thanked him with tears, and before long he was comfortable with humans again. Alisha couldn’t help but offer a hug and an innocent kiss on his cheek before running off into the village.

Sorey and Mikleo walked hand in hand together to the Stonehenge with Wresst riding on Mikleo’s shoulder. The Normin that had accompanied him for the level was exceptionally relieved that the problem had been taken care of; it meant that it could fulfill its purpose and offer what was needed for stronger Song Magic.

“Gotta hand it to you, Shepherd,” Gaine nonchalantly said. It was lying on one of the stones. “You managed to fix your giant mess. Maybe you do have what it takes to help this boy.”

Mikleo didn’t want to let go of his hand, but if he wanted to move onto the next level, he had to.

“Sorey, thank you for helping me overcome this fear,” Mikleo told him. “You don’t understand how much this means to me.”

Sorey grinned at him, saying, “I’m happy to help you anytime. Whenever you’re in trouble—within your soul or out in the real world—I will protect you.”

Mikleo and Wresst walked into the light which transported Sorey out of Mikleo’s soul. With the Normin sublimating into his soul, he was able to use aquamarine ore to learn specific Song Magic.

\-----------------------------------------------------------------

Sorey and Mikleo woke up, and the latter hugged Sorey so tightly that he almost knocked him out by smothering him. He didn’t say anything because he felt like a huge weight had been lifted from his body, and he was sure that Sorey already knew it.

Alisha and Lailah held each other’s hands, and Edna gave a small smile that she hid when she turned around under her umbrella. Rose was mystified. She was told during the Dive that she couldn’t ask what had happened, but seeing the love exuding from Sorey and Mikleo made her wonder if she was legitimately capable of getting through to Dezel. She glanced at Lailah and Alisha, who seemed like longtime partners as well. Dezel never let her get that close. Would it be possible to help him grow?

“Uh, hey, Sorey?” Rose suddenly said. “I have something for you. I don’t know if you can use it, but we picked up some aquamarine on the market.”

Edna closed her umbrella with a sigh. “Deus-Ex-Ore,” she mumbled. “I filled her in about ores, and it turns out that the Sparrowfeathers get them in the trade. If things are peachy with Mikleo, you should give him a piece.”

“But why?” Mikleo asked.

“Consider it a get-well gift,” Rose said. “Aquamarine is toxic in its raw form, so it’s not like we can really use it, and since water seraphim can consume it to learn Song Magic, I thought why not?”

She left for a few minutes then returned with a small pouch filled with the ore. She gave a formal thank-you for allowing her to witness the Dive, and after she left to continue with her caravan trade, Edna couldn’t help but feel like something was wrong with her.

“She must be doubting herself and Dezel,” Lailah said.

“I don’t blame her,” Alisha added. “Every time they visit to get treatment while in the Hyland region, he pushes her away. I hope she doesn’t get discouraged.”

Sorey and Mikleo glanced at each other. With what little they knew about Dezel, they weren’t surprised either that he hadn’t let her Dive. Perhaps they didn’t have a Divine Artifact. But Dezel’s attitude towards Diving proved to be a problem, too. They could only hope that he trusted her enough at some point to let her in.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fun fact, I actually Googled toxic ores to write this, and I'm still surprised that raw aquamarine is included on that list. I forget the exact chemical composition, but yeah. That pretty light blue stone comes from something that could kill you. Just like how that sweetie Mikleo is also named the Enforcer...which can be interpreted in many ways now that I think about it.


	23. Phase 1: Maltran, the Blue Valkyrie

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Maltran advances towards Glaivend Basin as Hyland declares war on Rolance.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Metrocon is done, and I got to meet Robbie Daymond, Ray Chase, and Max Mittelman! Inside jokes ensued, but most importantly is new found motivation to write!

Eguille glanced at his boss, who was deep in thought. Lailah and Alisha had Dived, and she saw what it was like thanks to Sorey and Mikleo. She was the only one who hadn’t made any progress with her seraph. After a while of heading through Glaivend Basin towards the Rolance territory and Frelia’s coverage, Rose asked that they stop for a moment so she could sit in the cargo with Dezel.

Once the caravan was moving again, she searched for the courage to talk to him. Dezel was a cactus of a seraph. He was more aloof than even the most hardened seraphim enslaved by humans. She had learned how to deal with him over the years of living with him, but he always kept his distance from her. Today was different, she decided. She wanted his permission to Dive into him.

“You’ve been sitting there in silence for a while,” Dezel said. “What’s wrong?”

“You’re awfully forthcoming today,” Rose replied.

“And you’ve got something on your chest. Spit it out.”

“S-Since when did you care?”

“Because you’ve been quiet for a long time. Marlind—I sensed Lailah and that water seraph along with their humans as well as an earth seraph. What were they doing?”

Rose swallowed. “Diving,” she answered. “Mikleo had been captured and tortured, and when they rescued him, he wouldn’t even let Sorey near him. They said that Diving would help, and it did.”

Dezel knew where the conversation was going. He was ready to decline her offer to Dive with him again, but considering how serious she had become about it, he wanted her to speak her mind first then decline. It would help discourage her if she could express herself before being meant with resistance.

“Dezel, if we Dived together, then maybe you could withstand the malevolence. You could learn more powerful songs! And we could learn to really trust each other. If you have things deep inside that you don’t want me to see, then I can ignore them. I just want to help you get stronger, and who knows? Maybe we can save the other seraphim like Sorey and Alisha.”

“No,” Dezel curtly said.

“Dezel, please!”

The blind wind seraph grabbed her by her arms. In a sudden show of emotion, he denied her access to his soul. It was too dangerous to Dive into his soul because he was unsure of what demons lie inside. He insisted that it was out of best interest to stay out. It was for Rose’s sake.

***

Alisha, Lailah, and Edna decided that Sorey and Mikleo needed their space to get reacquainted with each other. The water seraph’s torture and subsequent reluctance to work with Sorey had proved to be a scarring arc in their lives, so naturally they wanted to talk things over—especially since Sorey had seen the reality of those emotions within Mikleo’s soul space. If those sentiments were still inside of him, it would put a damper on team morale at least. Of course, Sorey didn’t blame him for those feelings considering that a human had done horrible things to him; while he was seemingly freed from such thoughts, however, he was afraid that he would relapse.

“Are you sure you’re okay?” Sorey asked, searching his eyes for proof that he was back to normal. He gingerly held his fists that lie rigidly on the bed.

Mikleo leaned into his chest, his forehead pressing lightly over his heart. It was a small comfort that had been so delayed that he didn’t want to leave him. The water seraph, peaceful with himself now, stared up into Sorey’s ever-shining emerald eyes.

“I’m fine,” he told him. “But…I’m sorry for the mistreatment I’ve given you. I’m so sorry that I kept breaking your heart.” He held his face tenderly before kissing him. Sorey just held him close, tears coming to his eyes now that his dearest seraph was back.

Meanwhile, Edna had to suffer the conversation between Alisha and Lailah. The two girls were still excited that they had Dived for the first time in a long time, and while it was a momentous occasion, the earth seraph found it to be rather annoying. Naturally, they couldn’t discuss what had happened during the Dive with Edna behind them, so they switched over to the boys, and it was a conversation that she was interested in despite not wanting to hear about their relationship in general.

“Do you really think the Dive will help Mikleo?” Alisha asked. “I know Dives are supposed to be the best way to fix something deep inside the hearts of seraphim, but when you factor in what he’s been through and then having to deal with the situation in Marlind, this all should have led to a collapse.”

Lailah stopped walking. She couldn’t deny that Alisha was right, but it was noticed by even Bartlow that Mikleo was resilient to collapse and malevolence to some degree. She wondered if the love he held for Sorey was so powerful that it was the last lifeline that was chaining down his psyche. Then there was the question of Sorey’s condition. How could a human survive through torture, the consequences of housing two seraphim, and the damaged psyche of one of those seraphim? He was going blind, and that was a normal side effect of the pacts forged between him and Mikleo and Edna. Was it his determination that made him persevere?

“Don’t forget that he started experiencing the plague symptoms,” Edna added.

The plague symptoms were brought on by the malevolence in the village, which he was more vulnerable to because he was already so weakened. It still didn’t explain why he survived, and sheer determination to fix Mikleo couldn’t have been the only thing. Perhaps it was something they would never understand until they learned more about the relationship between humans and seraphim and the effects of the environment on them.

Alisha looked towards the village gates where a horse carrying a half-dead lower-ranked knight was limping. She ran to the knight’s side, asking Lailah to heal him. When the knight had regained his some of his strength, he told her:

“I’ve been ordered to evacuate the village. War had been declared, and Chancellor Bartlow is intending to use special weapons that could wipe out anyone and anything in the surrounding area. Lady Maltran is already on her way with the first squadrons.”

“War? Why is he declaring war? Does he intend to use the Seraphoids?” Alisha asked herself. She looked into the knight’s eyes. “Please, could you delay the advancements? We must secure a safe haven for the villagers and seraphim here.”

“Lady Alisha—”

“We just need a little more time!”

Lailah finished healing the knight’s injuries before he was sent to make some sort of diversion. The knight made his way to the Bors Ruins just outside of Marlind to hold Maltran’s battalion. Lady Maltran was Alisha’s mentor and right-hand woman. Lailah wasn’t particularly fond of her simply because she obeyed Chancellor Bartlow’s orders most of the time. She was grateful that she protected and taught her what it meant to fight, but she couldn’t ignore the subtle envy that she held for her. She scared her.

“We must alert the people here,” Alisha said dutifully. She led Lailah and Edna back to the inn to prepare Sorey and Mikleo for the upcoming battle between Hyland and Rolance.

Sorey and Mikleo were still holding each other as if they had fallen asleep in each other’s arms when Alisha intruded on them. After explaining what she had heard from the knight, she urged them to steel themselves. Next, she asked that Lucas and his men guide the people and seraphim to somewhere safe. She emphasized that they had to keep an eye on the humans that had been abusing the seraphim; with chaos on the verge of ensuing, she knew that there would be people waiting to take advantage of the moment to take out their anger and fears on the seraphim. Once they had gotten away to safety, Alisha rallied her friends out of Marlind and to the Bors Ruins. While Sorey and Mikleo would have been excited to learn about them, the urgency in Alisha and Lailah’s movements worried them. War was a terrible thing, and if Bartlow was ready to advance using the Seraphoids he had created from Zenrus and other seraphim, they knew that they had to do something to stop it.

The knight had only lured Maltran’s forces in just enough for the trees and rocks to barely obscure them from inside. Unlike the Mabinogio Ruins that Sorey and Mikleo had spent their childhood exploring and the Vivian Subterranean Aqueduct where they had hidden from Bartlow, these ruins were out in the open and exposed to all the elements. It was useful for containing the men and their horses but easy for them to trickle out and head towards the battlefield.

“What is the meaning of this?” Maltran sharply asked the knight. “We have orders to meet Rolance at Glaivend Basin. We do not have time to waste here.”

“Lady Alisha ordered that we regroup in these ruins,” the knight nervously said. He was aware of Maltran’s power. He was only a lowly knight; she would kill him in the blink of an eye. “W-We aren’t quite sure what Rolance is capable of.”

Maltran’s expression softened slightly. It was her duty to protect her. Deep inside, however, she wanted to see just how powerful the Seraphoids were. Not too long after, Alisha arrived with her entourage. The Blue Valkyrie, as she was titled, glared at Sorey and Mikleo.

“Lady Alisha, we were just talking about you,” Maltran told her. “Have you come to participate in the war? Shall you aid us in bringing victory to Hyland?”

Alisha shook her head, and Lailah took a step closer to her. The princess knight always knew when Lailah felt uncomfortable around Maltran, and she had vowed to protect her from her even if she didn’t know why. Edna and Mikleo flanked Sorey, whom awaited Alisha’s orders. Even if he was the Shepherd, it was not his duty to get caught in the political affairs of warring states.

“Why has Bartlow declared war on Rolance? Is he planning on using the Seraphoids?” Alisha inquired. She knew that was the reason. She needed the truth from Maltran’s mouth so she could testify against her in court if she had to. “What reason is there to go to war, and why now when seraphim and humans are suffering?”

Maltran stood silent then knelt before her. “Rolance is developing their own fighting machines. Using the Seraphoids; we can cut off their supplies, decimate their weapons, and display the strength of the Hyland Kingdom. We will not lose to Rolance.” Maltran ordered her forces to leave the ruins. As she passed Alisha, she warned her quietly:

“I will not hesitate to kill you if you are in my way.”

Alisha’s heart was shaken by the threat. Maltran, the woman she admired and learned the way of the spear from, was prepared to splatter her blood on the dirt she stood upon. She wanted to believe that she was only following orders. Bartlow had more power than Alisha; the princess title was just that.

Lailah held Alisha’s hand to try and calm her, and Sorey stepped closer to Mikleo in case he had a breakdown from the hostility. Edna was the only one not particularly worried. She looked at the pouch hanging from Sorey’s belt. She told him to give a piece to Mikleo to eat.

“But Rose said this was toxic!” Sorey rebutted. “Mikleo just got better. I can’t let him poison himself!”

“No, you idiot,” Edna snapped while hitting him on the head. “When you Dived, there should have been a change in Meebo that allowed him to safely ingest ores. I know this because, in case you missed it, I ate orpiment to learn a new Song Magic as a result of that same change in myself. Depending on his emotions now, eating a piece of the aquamarine should initiate creation of a Song Magic that can be of use to us if we want to stop that woman from killing an entire army.”

Sorey was prepared to fight for Mikleo, but the water seraph—still subdued and guilty for all the trouble he caused his partner—assured him that everything would be okay. He took the pouch of ore, pulled out a small piece, and crunched down into it. It was gritty and hurt to bite, and he couldn’t say he enjoyed it, but almost immediately he felt a surge a power. A library of Song Magic had opened up to him, and one specific spell became increasingly prevalent in his mind. He wasn’t going to waste his energy by singing it now.   
He simply looked at Sorey, his eyes shining with the promise to protect him and his friends.

Mikleo was different now. He was more proactive. While Sorey hated seeing him shrink away from him and listening to him whimper and cry, he began to see that perhaps it was a blessing in disguise. His dearest seraph was becoming stronger.

“We should get going,” Mikleo suggested. “The sooner we can stop that war from happening, the better.”

“I agree,” Lailah added. “A battlefield is a place where the most malevolence is generated. If the Seraphoids are exposed to that, there’s no telling what sort of calamity will happen or how many lives will be lost.”

“We’d better be prepared to sing our pretty little hearts out then,” Edna smirked. “After all, that fat man and whoever is running the Rolance side of things won’t listen to reason. Bartlow was willing to kill the Shepherd for the sake of this false power. Rolance won’t be any different.”

Sorey and Alisha considered what their friends were saying. It was a life or death situation. There was no room for mistakes. As they hastily made their way to Glaivend Basin, Maltran met with Commander General Landon, a foul-mood, one-eyed man who had been itching for war since the tensions between the two kingdoms had first started rising. She instructed him how to use the Seraphoids that would soon arrive to their camp. Landon was more enthusiastic about seeing the bloodshed rather than winning; he gladly took on the task.

“When the first arrow pierces the sky, unleash the power of the Seraphoids,” Maltran told him.

“Of course, Lady Maltran,” he ominously agreed. “Rolance will fall today!”

The other soldiers let out a war cry. They prepared for battle, lining up at the edge of the battleground with spears, swords, and arrows ready. Maltran and Landon watched as Rolance slowly moved towards them. Today the earth would be stained red with the blood of their enemies.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We're approaching the end of Phase 1, which means that there might be a change in focus.


	24. Phase 1:  Warring States

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sorey, Alisha, Mikleo, Lailah, and Edna follow Maltran to Glaivend Basin to see that war has already started. Even with Rose and Dezel's help, they're no match for the Lord of Calamity.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yup, I took a while. Two Songs in this one, but you don't get the lyrics. Sorry not sorry.
> 
>  **PARTS OF THIS CHAPTER ARE BEING WITHHELD AT THE MOMENT, INCLUDING THE TITLES OF THE SONGS.** I took a hiatus on this to not only finish up my Tainted AU fic but also because I wanted to actually produce the original songs I did write for this fanfiction. UTAU is being a pain in the ass and I don't know how to fix the program-breaking error (and while I know Japanese, I don't know technical Japanese to read the install directions, which isn't even the beginning of the problem). As such, I won't be posting the Hymmnos/Ar Ciela lyrics for this chapter until I can fix the program or I can find someone that can help me make the songs.

“I can’t keep this up,” Shurelia panted. “This Virus is too strong. I can’t even use my Song Magic at this point without lowering my guard.”

She was sweating profusely from the exertion. Her head was pounding, and her limbs felt heavy. She was too tired to keep fighting, but she had to do it.

The Tower rumbled as the ultimate Virus forced its way out into the world. The white armored Reyvateil used every ounce of her power to stop it from escaping only to be knocked out in the process by a powerful sonic wave. When she came to, Eolia was empty. All the hellions that had broken into the Tower scattered as if following the Virus away from her domain. Shurelia knew that something terrible would happen if it was allowed to continue living. She cursed at her inability to stop the chaos from escaping into the world.

“Damn, this place went to hell and back,” Zaveid’s voice echoed in the Tower. He walked up the final set of stairs to the Altar of Apostles, where Shurelia had cornered the Viruses before their escape. “I take it that _she_ got away after all?”

“Unfortunately, I couldn’t keep Mir contained—not when I have to divide my power to fight the hellions that break in as well,” Shurelia told him. “I cannot leave this place with hellions still roaming about. If they destroy any more of Eolia, the seraphim in this region will sustain damage greater than normal infection.”

Zaveid placed his hand on his hip. “You want me to find her? Eizen’s been killed, and I’ve got nothing to do until that skirmish between the regions has died down. She can’t have gotten far.”

“It would behoove you to stop her. Your life is on the line, too, if she makes it to Frelia’s server Infel Phira.”

The burly wind seraph smirked. “You’ve got a point, Miss Cream Puff, but what can she really do? I leave this place to you. Just don’t push yourself. If Ar Tonelico goes down, a lot of seraphim will die,” he told her. He left Eolia in search of the Virus named Mir.

\--------------------------------------------

“Charge!” Commander General Landon cried out as his men advanced towards the thousands of battalions emerging from the Rolance side of the battlefield. “Leave no one alive!” He held his sword out, a thin beam of sunlight piercing through the clouds glinting off its tip. “ _Kill them all!_ ”

Hyland’s soldiers decapitated Rolance’s men while Rolance’s soldiers ran them through with their swords and spears. Arrows rained from the heavens like fire storm. The sea of blood that drenched the dirt stretched for miles upon miles, and every pocket of Glaivend Basin was brimming with fighters and corpses. There was no end in sight, and both sides wondered if the fighting was in vain. They didn’t have much time to think before they transformed into hellions, the malevolence accumulating into powerful Viruses within them and consuming their souls as breakneck speeds.

The Hyland forces brought their Seraphoids to battle. Their corrupted wails fried the minds of their enemies and allies alike. Rolance’s seraphim attacked blindly in furious rage until exhaustion claimed them or they were killed by another seraph.

Sorey had taken the lead to Glaiven Basin upon hearing the horrendous screams of human and seraph. His heart ached as he watched the Seraphoids kill repeatedly until the malevolence generated from the soldiers suffocated them. Alisha tightened her grip on her spear; this wasn’t what she wanted for her country, for her people, for the seraphim that lived within the Hyland territory! Lailah knew that this was humans were capable of—the destruction wasn’t anything new to her aside from the implementation of Seraphoids and whatever Rolance had done to their seraphim. Edna was beyond disgusted, and she remembered why she hated humans. She remembered that this was the reason her brother perished. Mikleo, who was the only one of the three to have hope that humans could repent for their sins, squeezed Sorey’s hand. He felt so sick, as if he were reliving the torture that Bartlow had done on a grander scale. None of them had expected the violence conducted by the seraphim to be so extreme. Perhaps the only good thing was that Zenrus was nowhere to be found, for they knew that if the shell of the old lightning seraph had been forced into the war, no one would be left standing. Not even the tents of the bases.

“We can’t let this go on,” Sorey growled. “This isn’t right for anyone!”

“We have to find Maltran and make her stop this,” Alisha added.

Edna scoffed at them. “What do you plan on doing? Asking that woman to stand down or you’ll cry? Humans will never change, no matter how many do-gooders try to do it.”

“Edna, at least they try,” Lailah tried to counter. But she didn’t have much faith in them either. She couldn’t with what was happening all around them.

“Trying isn’t good enough. Humans are far too corrupted by power and greed.” She closed her umbrella and held it in front of her. She looked at Sorey. “Do you know what the Shepherd’s true duty is?”

Lailah flinched. Sorey may be the Shepherd, but she had hoped that she didn’t have to delineate what his job was to do. She had hoped it wouldn’t have come to this. “Edna, please allow me to explain.”

The fire seraph was uncomfortable as she spoke about the duty of the Shepherd. It took all her might not to seem afraid or discouraged. Sorey’s duty was not to free the seraphim from the greedy humans controlling them but to end the malevolence that propogated that greed. To do that, he had to stop the Lord of Calamity, a being so corrupted that it had the power to change the very landscape of the world. The wickedness of humans, the suffering of the seraphim, the darkness that covered the land was all caused by the Lord of Calamity; it was the Shepherd’s job to quell the malevolence and to set the balance right.

Edna looked away from her human vessel because Mikleo’s eyes widened with fear and disapproval. She didn’t admit it, but she felt pity for the water seraph and his beloved human. As an outsider, she didn’t really care what happened to Sorey as long as he didn’t become tainted by the malevolence he was bound to erase. When she thought about what they had been through together, it reminded her of Eizen and the pain he endured for centuries. If Sorey—or Alisha for that matter—were to become tainted, Mikleo and Lailah and herself would be made to withstand an eternity of anguish and hatred.

Mikleo clung to Sorey’s arm as he thought about what this culminated into: he had to share Sorey even though it took a toll on him _and_ prevent him from falling into depravity. He had already done a terrible job—Sorey’s heart had broken after they couldn’t work together without the brunet coaxing him like a scared animal, and even though Sorey was so happy to have him back to normal, he knew that he still blamed himself.

“It is a heavy burden, Sorey, but your affinity for the seraphim makes you the perfect candidate. Even if you don’t wish to be the Shepherd after all that’s happened—”

Sorey looked at Lailah with gleaming eyes. He turned to Mikleo with a stupid grin that formed a lump in his throat. “Zaveid’s hunch was right after all! I mean, I figured at this point, but to think I would be the next Shepherd!”

“How can you be happy about this?!” Mikleo almost sobbed. “You could be killed! You could lose yourself to the evil around us!”

Edna twirled her umbrella. “Uh-oh, Meebo’s separation anxiety is kicking in.”

“Mikleo, Sorey’s capacity as a fighter—”

Alisha stopped talking. Mikleo grabbed Sorey’s arms earnestly.

“I’m not letting you do this alone,” he said indignantly. “It’s my fault that I got caught by Bartlow. It’s my fault that your confidence in me was shaken. I refuse to let my weakness, my cowardice to be a liability to you any longer. Sorey, I will gladly sing for you. I will sing however long it takes to make sure you’re safe. I am your enforcer, and damn it, I will show you that you don’t have to do this alone. You _will not_ do this alone.”

Lailah and Alisha clapped for him with sparkling amazement. They had never seen Mikleo so forceful in his speech, and Sorey couldn’t say anything to change his mind. Edna discreetly smiled at him.

Sneaking through the Hyland camp to the northern edge of their side of the battle, Mikleo promised Sorey that he would be right behind him while he was singing. With Edna’s help, Sorey and Alisha and her seraph were charged with clearing the field as much as possible. Mikleo found a ledge over the war. He stood over everyone, and as he focused all his energy on Sorey’s life and the desire to protect him, he took a deep breath. He stated, “Commencing Song: **[TITLE REDACTED]**.”

The water seraph began to glow as the notes drifted from his mouth like delicate bubbles. His soul resonating with the feelings in his song and the ore that provided the template, he sang with all his might.

**[LYRICS REDACTED]**

**[LYRICS REDACTED]**

Sorey and his other friends threw themselves into battle, but the brunet paused for a moment. His beloved seraph was singing! It was a real song, not just a short incantation! He felt his love and strength in his voice, and he knew that he could count on him. His only wish was that once he was done that he come find him. Sorey wouldn’t be able to protect him while fighting the hordes of hellions, but he believed that when they regrouped, they would be unstoppable.

“Alright, everyone! Give this your all!” Sorey rallied. He led them into the battle.

**[LYRICS REDACTED]**

**[LYRICS REDACTED]**

Edna pierced the ground with her lances made of stone while Lailah and Alisha tag-teamed the hellions that came after them. Lailah’s fires stunned them and Alisha weakened them with her thrusts. Sorey came up from behind, ordering Lailah to use her Silver Flames on his sword. One by one, the hellionized soldiers were purified. Most of them wouldn’t survive the rage of war simply because they were vulnerable now.

“Sorey, you need to keep an eye on Mikleo,” Edna sternly told her vessel. “He’s completely defenseless while singing up there.”

Alisha and Lailah leapt towards him after dodging a swing from a tiger-looking hellion. They assured him that they could take care of the soldiers. Sorey ran back up to the ledge where Mikleo sang:

**[LYRICS REDACTED]**

“What is that disgusting sound?” Landon snarled half the field away. He spotted Mikleo on the ledge as he rode through the battlefield dodging swings and jabs. It irked him that a seraph was singing over his beautiful war. “A lowly seraph thinks it can stop this chaos? We’ll see about that!”

He veered towards the ledge, forcing his horse to scale its rocky side as he propped an arrow into his bow. He aimed at him. He fired.

**[LYRICS REDACTED]**

Sorey deflected the arrow as Mikleo began to repeat the song. “Don’t worry, buddy—I won’t let anyone hurt you. Just keep singing!” he said more to himself than to his seraph. Landon confronted his adversary, but Sorey wasn’t intimidated by him. He angled his sword at him.

“Foolish boy! You think you have the power to stop me? To stop the entire Hyland army?!” the commander general roared. He transformed into bear-type therion hellion. “I’ll rip your head from your body then I’ll devour that poor excuse of a seraph! His singing days are over! Do you hear me? _Over!_ ”

Landon charged towards Sorey, grabbing him up in both his arms and crushing him until he just couldn’t breathe. The hellion was three times his size, and while he was sure he could defeat him, he feared that Mikleo would stop singing to save him. But the water seraph was deep in a trance; his Song Magic was the only thing flooding his mind. The distractions around him were tuned out.

“What a tiny, insignificant bug! Screw what Bartlow wanted—the Shepherd is better off dead. That fool of a man thinks he can hold your power inside of a seraph, but he’s wrong! A bug like you doesn’t deserve anything but a bloody death!”

Sorey struggled. He slowly turned his sword in his hand so he could stab upwards into Landon’s arm. Once he was freed from his grip, he prepared to beat him away. He swung at him, and Landon dodged. He swung again, and Landon dodged. For a large beast, he was quick on his feet. If he wanted the upper hand, he had to blind him. The Shepherd leapt into the air, his sword ready to dig deep into the hellion’s only good eye. Landon swatted him out of the way then set his sights on Mikleo.

“Not so fast!” Sorey called from behind. Landon turned around. Everything when black then red. Sorey had pierced his eye after throwing dust at him. Landon bellowed in pain, which gave Sorey time to move in front of Mikleo. “Mikleo, I need to move you. This guy is going to kill you! I know I shouldn’t disturb you, but it’s not safe for you here.”

“You little piece of shit!” Landon boomed. He grabbed Sorey by the nape of his neck and threw him down as hard as he could. Had Mikleo not been singing, he would have died. “I’m done playing games. I’ll kill you right here!” Landon pinned Sorey with his foot. “Breathe your last, bug!” He put all his weight on Sorey’s chest.

Sorey stabbed his ankle. He was free of Landon’s weight, and he had to be put down, but there was something stopping him. Sorey had never intentionally killed anyone. Of course, Landon was a hellion, but hellions could be purified. What if Landon could be, too? If he didn’t kill him, then Landon would break him in half then go after Mikleo. Would he kill Mikleo? Would he take him back to Bartlow for more experiments?

A pair of daggers shimmered against the dark, cloudy sky. They stuck into Landon’s neck. They had gone deep enough to kill him, which was surprising given how thick hellion skin could be. In a flash of wind, the daggers were gone.

“What was that?” Sorey whispered. He didn’t have time to find an answer. He returned to Mikleo’s side. “Mikleo, you can stop singing for a little while. We need to get you down there so you’ll be closer to us.”

Mikleo stopped accordingly. He looked tired, feverish almost. Sorey beckoned him to go inside to recover. He went down the ledge and regrouped with Alisha and the other seraphim. They were tired but proud. Aside from the Seraphoids that were wreaking havoc and Rolance’s seraph armada still crazily killing each other, the fighting between men had toned down.

“Where’s Mikleo?” Alisha asked.

“He’s resting. He’s never sung an entire Song, so he’s exhausted,” Sorey explained softly. “Landon is dead.”

“You killed him?” Edna asked. “That’s surprising.”

“No, not me. Someone else did. A pair of daggers came out of nowhere and stabbed him.”

“Well, we can count our blessings later,” Lailah interrupted. “The malevolence is still building. Something’s not right here. This malevolence…”

“It’s worse than a dragon’s,” Edna finished. For the first time, she shrunk with intimidation. “I’ve never felt this before. Eizen didn’t have power like this.”

A burst of poisoned air blew through them. Mikleo was forced out of Sorey’s body, and before long the three seraphim were cut off from the rest of the world.

“Lailah!” Alisha cried out.

“Mikleo! Edna!” Sorey yelled.

Sorey and Alisha looked for their seraphim. Then the one propogating the chaos appeared.

\---------------------------------------

“Dezel, are you sure you can do this?” Rose asked. She wasn’t wearing the green blouse that marked her as a merchant. She was dressed as an assassin—skin-tight brown leather and a hood over her red hair. A silver mask covered her face.

Dezel held his chest. The abnormal malevolence was crushing his heart. But he couldn’t let Rose notice. He simply reassured her that he could do it.

“We’re still within Frelia’s radius; my Song will have power,” he reassured. He feigned confidence. “Just go. You need to free as many seraphim as you can.”

“We still have time to Dive,” Rose tried again. “If we Dive, you’ll be able to withstand the malevolence a little better!”

Dezel pushed her back. “I said go! I don’t need you to Dive into me to make sure I can protect you from your enemies. Stay within my range. I won’t be able to save you if you stray too far.”

Rose hesitated. She worried about him even if there was nothing she could do. She offered a hesitant thumbs-up then leapt over the edge to complete her task. Dezel didn’t have the power to purify simply because he didn’t want it. He kept his distance from Rose, only helping her when he saw fit. Her double life as a skilled assassin, however, made up for it. She killed indiscriminately on the battlefield. The seraphim on Rolance’s side were too far gone to be saved. She put them out of their misery and protected their bodies from other crazed seraphim and hellions. As she did her duty, Dezel sang his song **[TITLE REDACTED]**.:

**[LYRICS REDACTED]**

The sound of Dezel’s voice was always soothing to Rose’s ears. She didn’t get to hear him sing very often. She believed in him.

**[LYRICS REDACTED]**

**[LYRICS REDACTED]**

Rose continued to put down whoever crossed her path, the blood of the hellions and the seraphim mixing together in puddles in the dirt. It hurt her heart to hear Dezel’s beautiful but solemn voice while seeing the pain in front of her. She thought of happier things so the malevolence couldn’t get to her. She thought about the times that Dezel would think she was asleep and sing little tunes to himself. She knew that he missed his life living alone. She didn’t know much about his past, even when Mayvin tried to talk to him about all that had happened to handicap him.

She stabbed a hellion in the stomach then dashed past it into a crowd of battling seraphim and soldiers that were in the middle of transforming. “Glimmer Dragon!” she yelled as she killed them.

She wondered what did Dezel think when she was trained to kill? Was he frightened? Was he wary of her? Did he trust her any less than before?

**[LYRICS REDACTED]**

**[LYRICS REDACTED]**

She noticed the emotion had changed in the song. The lyrics—whatever they might be—felt sweeter and more loving than previously. She was on the edge of his field, and the crowd of enemies was thinning out either from her killing them, them killing each other, or some other force.

“Breathe your last, bug!” a voice thundered over the sounds of swords and falling bodies.

Rose looked over at a ledge across the battlefield where another seraph was singing. His body glowed blue from his Song Magic, and there was someone behind him. She recognized the blue attire.

“Is that Sorey’s seraph?” she asked herself. She glanced up at Dezel, who was still singing as hard as he could. She couldn’t leave his radius, but she couldn’t let Mikleo get hurt when Sorey was nowhere to be seen. “I’m sorry, Dezel. Looks like I’ll have to go without your prayers for a couple minutes.”

**[LYRICS REDACTED]**

Rose left his field to see the commotion behind Mikleo. When she arrived, she found Sorey pinned under Landon until he stabbed his ankle. Landon, angered by Sorey’s retaliation, was prepared to kill him. He lunged for him. Rose couldn’t stop herself; she leapt into the air and threw two daggers into Landon’s neck. He plopped over. His blood drained. He stopped moving and growling. As quickly as possible, she retrieved her daggers. She couldn’t let Sorey see who she was. She returned to Dezel’s field as fast as she could so he wouldn’t be angry later. He sensed that she had come back from wherever she had gone, and while he tried to hide how he truly felt, he was already at the end of his song:

**[LYRICS REDACTED]**

“Dezel!” Rose called. “We’re moving! Sorey and the others are here!”

The blind seraph was shocked. How did he not notice Sorey? He joined with Rose, and the two of them began to head towards the Rolance side of the battlefield when the wind seraph was paralyzed with a terrible creeping pain. He fell to his knees, gagging and trembling.

“What’s wrong? Are you okay?” Rose frantically asked him. She embraced him.

“This malevolence…what is it?” Dezel coughed into her chest. He squirmed, burying his face into her breasts out of pain.

Just across the Basin, Sorey and Alisha still couldn’t find their seraphim. All that accompanied them was a booming voice that sent shivers down their spines. A being made of pure darkness stood before them. He had the head of a lion, and there was a hazy silhouette of a small girl with long hair behind him.

Alisha fell to her knees in fear while Sorey tried to hold his ground. Lailah had mentioned someone called the Lord of Calamity, and Edna had said that the malevolence was far worse than that of a dragon’s. Was this man that being?

“Who are you?” Sorey demanded to know. “What have you done to Mikleo and the others?!”

The man laughed at his meager attempt at trying to challenge him. “You must be the new Shepherd—judging from your naiveté. I can sense your connections to your seraphim. Excellent. I am the Lord of Calamity, Heldalf.”

Alisha crawled backwards. As a Squire, she held no power to fight against him. Sorey stood his ground. “Why are you doing this? Why are you generating so much malevolence?”

“A question from someone so stupidly pure. Very well. If you must know, Shepherd, I intend to destroy this husk of a world and remake it in my image. A world without suffering. Isn’t that the same thing you wish for, boy?”

“I want humans and seraphim to coexist without suffering and slavery.”

“Our goals are the same. So why don’t you join me? Together we can see an end to this pointless suffering. We can initiate a rebirth befitting of all living things on this land.”

“No way, I don’t plan on destroying the world. Humans and seraphim can live together through suffering and understanding the same things. They can form bonds, and I know this because I have Mikleo.”

Heldalf snarled at him. “A farce of a bond! Let’s see, Shepherd, just how well that bond of yours holds up against me!”

A wave of malevolence crashed through Sorey and Alisha, knocking out the latter and wrenching the other’s gut so terribly that he threw up bile. Sorey looked back at his friend just as a hellion soldier approached him. It kicked him in the stomach, lifting him by his shirt into the air so it could punch him across the field. He pushed himself up. Another hellion used a small boulder to hit his head. He was bleeding; his head felt like it had all kind of sharp tools inside. The hellion raised the boulder again.

Rose, using Dezel’s wind, seemed to teleport onto its shoulders and slashed its neck. Sorey looked up at his savior. He tried to make out who it was behind the silver mask, but the head injury got the better of him. He wobbled then passed out.

“Dammit, this wasn’t supposed to happen,” Rose grumbled. “Dezel, I know it hurts, but I need your help. You need to grab Alisha. I’ll get Sorey.”

Dezel appeared outside of Rose. He did as he was told. Rose pulled Sorey over her shoulders while he tucked Alisha under his arm. Just as the two were about to take their leave on the wind, a horde of hellions attacked them. They pushed them to the edge of a ledge that dropped off into a ravine below. Neither could escape; the only thing they could do was jump.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> PHASE 1 CLEAR. PHASE 2 START.  
>  _Was yea ra yassa yor phyue!_  
>  _En biron ar akata PHASE 2._  
>  _Rrha ki ra tie yor ini en nha_  
>  _Wee ki ra parge yor ar ciel_  
>  _En rasse yor..._  
> ...  
> ...  
>  Commencing Phase 2.


	25. Phase 2:  Reunion

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sorey and company have crossed into Rolance territory and reunite with some familiar faces.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay, we're on Phase 2! I hope I write Dezel and Rose well. I do enjoy the love-hate banter!

“Lailah, why aren’t they waking up?” Mikleo panicked. He shook Sorey’s arm to no avail. He placed his hand on his wound. “Resilient Aid!”

Sorey’s injury healed quickly yet he was still unconscious. Lailah was tending to Alisha while Edna poked Dezel repeatedly with her umbrella, both of whom were also unconscious. Rose laid at the riverbank.

“That stupid girl jumped from Glaivend Basin and got washed down here. It’s no surprise that everyone’s knocked out,” Edna sighed. “Even this wind seraph did it. You’d think he’d have used his wind to fly them to safety. Ugh, all brawn and no brains.”

“Oh, that’s Dezel! That must mean Rose really was there!” Lailah realized. She hurried over to the red-haired assassin, pulled her away from the water’s edge, and set her near Dezel. She tended again to Alisha. “All we can do is wait for them to wake up.”

“I’m now taking bets on who wakes up first,” Edna sarcastically said.

Mikleo sat with Sorey’s head on his lap. The laceration was gone, but there was a large bruise in its place. Even a slight touch elicited a sleepy groan. He wanted to hold him, but falling from such a height no doubt had hurt him badly. He thought about using Resilient Aid again. If Sorey were awake, then he would feel better about expending his energy.   
Wherever they were, however, was not safe enough to use his Seraphic Artes.

Rose roused after a few moments, upsetting Lailah who had betted that Alisha would wake up first afer taking care of her. She was groggy, and Mikleo and the other seraphim didn’t want to scare her when she wasn’t lucid. She glanced around.

“Volgran…Forest?” she murmured. “How…did I get…Dezel? Dezel!” She threw herself onto her seraph’s chest. “Are you okay? Hey, wake up! Did you get hurt? Dezel!”

The wind seraph didn’t respond, and she feared the worst. Edna tapped his chest with her umbrella, showing her that he was still breathing. Rose relaxed, but she was still upset.

“Everything is okay, Rose,” Lailah reassured her. She caught a glimpse of the ocean-blue eyes that were on the verge of tearing up. Mikleo and Edna exchanged glances.

“I’m such an idiot,” Rose sighed. It was strange since Lailah had never seen her sad in all the times she’d visited her for her help. In fact, Rose wasn’t one to let mistakes and regrets get to her. “I ruined my chances of getting to Dive into Dezel. I should’ve stayed closer to him. I should’ve done a better job at protecting him. He’s going to hate me, and I’ll never get to see into his soul.”

Mikleo, Edna, and Lailah were all confused. “Wait, so you’re sad because you can’t Dive into him?” Mikleo asked her. “We all thought you were scared if he died.”

Rose defeatedly shook her head. “After seeing you and Sorey Dive, I asked him about it. He got mad—actually he was almost panicking. He said he was scared of what demons were deep in his soul. But I really don’t care about them. I’ve done some pretty bad things, but we do have an honor code.”

Edna twirled her umbrella. “I thought you looked different,” she told her. “You’re an assassin.”

Rose flinched. “Dammit, I forgot I was still in—this isn’t what it looks like—this is an illusion! You can’t see me!” She tried to cover her face, her clothes, everything about her with her hands.

“I can’t believe I’ve been helping an assassin and her seraph,” Lailah almost cried.

Rose couldn’t hide anymore. She admitted that she was an assassin, and that the Sparrowfeathers merchant guild doubled as the Scattered Bones assassin guild. Even Eguille and the twins were assassins. But she clarified that Dezel had little to do with their work if he did accompany them.

“Dezel gets really sick from malevolence, so we don’t utilize him in the field,” Rose explained. “Ever since I was little, I’ve been trying to protect him, bu most of the time, he’s saving me.”

“From your targets?” Mikleo asked. He softened; despite what he remembered from his first encounter with them, Dezel and Rose did care about each other.

“From poison mushrooms, poison ivy, poison meat…just about anything with poison in it. The occasional rotten meat, too, now that I think about it.”

Rose smiled. Lailah could tell she liked having Dezel with her, and while she wasn’t as intimate as Sorey and Mikleo or Lailah and Alisha, there was a small bud waiting to bloom within her heart. Perhaps that was why she was so eager to peek into Dezel’s soul.

“Rose…” Dezel murmured. Rose flew back to his side. “You friggin’ idiot…” He sat up. “Why are you telling them everything about yourself? Lailah, I can understand, but the other two?”

Edna nonchalantly walked up to him and prepared to smack him, but he stopped her just before her umbrella made contact. She pulled her umbrella away then went for a jab, and he stopped her again.

“Meebo, drown him,” Edna commanded.

“No, Edna, we can’t just drown people we don’t like now, can we?” Mikleo scolded.

“Sorry, but I don’t trust you,” Dezel growled, cautiously letting go of her umbrella.

“Strangely, you spent a night with us in Alisha’s manor and didn’t really care what we did. In fact, you were more detached then than you are now.”

Dezel growled but conceded. He stood up. “Rose, we’re going,” he stated. He grabbed her wrist. Taking a step away from them, he felt her pull back. “What are you doing?”

The red-haired assassin stood indignantly. She couldn’t let him leave knowing that Sorey and Alisha were still unconscious; the former was injured and needed a place to rest comfortably. Lailah, Mikleo, and Edna also needed somewhere to hide as well. They were no longer within Eolia’s range, but that didn’t mean that Rolance couldn’t use them. If Bartlow’s experiments were as potentially deadly as she was told, Rolance would find a way to not only kill them but to use their corpses in their own sick ways.

“Come on, Dezel, we know them,” she persuaded. “You never find humans that want to protect seraphim. We can’t let them die here, not when so much is on the line for your kind.” She held Dezel’s gloved hand. “Stop being so cold.”

“What makes you think that we can help them?” he inquired. His heart was pounding. He didn’t want them near him just like he didn’t want Rose close to him. “You’re not meant to help anyone. Your job is to kill those who do wrong.”

“My job is to see that justice and goodness prevail be any means necessary,” Rose argued.

Alisha woke up, and Lailah held her close so she could whisper to her just what was going on. The princess knight looked at the two of them. She felt sorry that Dezel was so obstinate and that Rose couldn’t do anything to change his mind. That was when she got an idea. But first, she needed both sides to cool down.

She stood up, her legs unsteady rom sitting, and she grabbed both Rose and Dezel by their ears. “Both of you need a time out,” she proclaimed like a mother, which she most likely picked up from Lailah. “You’re going to take us somewhere safe so Sorey can rest peacefully then explain yourselves.”

After she let go of them, Alisha asked that they show them the way to a haven. Mikleo carried Sorey on his back as Edna and Lailah walked behind them. They fell just out of earshot, discussing Rose’s and Dezel’s problematic relationship. It was completely understandable that the wind seraph didn’t want the assassin wandering around inside of his mind. His reasons, no matter how vague they were, were justified. If Rose tried to force her way into his soul space, she would either be ripped to pieces or be attacked by the very demons that Dezel was hiding from her. Mikleo had his own ideas as well. He remembered when Bartlow had said his true name and the pain that engulfed him as he felt hints of his consciousness worming into his mind. Did Rose not understand what it meant to Dive? No, she was unlearned but not completely oblivious. She had to have some inkling that forcing her way into the soul space was dangerous for herself and her seraph. In the end, Lailah entertained the thought of asking for Dezel’s honest answer. She could use Edna as an example. Sorey was her first Dive partner ever, so it was natural to be hesitant at first.

Rose and Dezel led their friends to their hideout in the Tintagel Ruins. They were first stopped by the twins Ayn Felice and Ayn Talfryn. It was the first time hearing their names, so the assassin pressured them into learning them quick so they wouldn’t offend them. Eguille and another member of the star assassination team named Rosh stood outside the entrance. Between them was an old man with a large Celestial Record under his arm.

“Mayvin!” Rose happily greeted him. “You’re back from your journey?”

“For now, milady,” Mayvin chortled. He glanced at Alisha and the seraphim behind her. His eyebrows raised when he spotted the Shepherd’s garb. “You found the Shepherd?  
That’s some luck you have!”

“It’s a long story for a later time. We’re about to set him up in a bed to recover. He…took a bit of a tumbling and ended up over on this side of the continent. _How have the mabo curry buns been selling?_ ”

Dezel crossed his arms, angry that she had asked that question when they had somewhere to be and a Shepherd in need of care. Edna furrowed her brow at him.

“We’ve been doing better in Gododdin, but there are still problems in getting the recipe just right,” Mayvin replied. “If you happen to pass by there, you’ll see what I mean.” The old man waltzed over to Mikleo, who took a step back. He felt uncomfortable with his proximity, but he didn’t sense any sort of ill will from him. He had a kind face hardened from his adventures. “You must be the Shepherd’s seraph, or one of them. Hm, I can sense a deep bond, but true potential has yet to be tapped.” Mayvin offered a grin. He advised Mikleo and Edna, after noting her connection to Sorey based on her untrusting scowl, that they Dive more often. “Rolance will offer its obstacles. You must remain vigilant in Diving.” He said the same thing to Alisha and Lailah.

Once Mayvin had left and Rose and Dezel escorted their friends into the ruins with the other assassins bringing up the tail end, Sorey was taken to one of the many beds ready within the hideout. Rose asked Eguille to prepare a meal for him then sat with Alisha and the seraphim.

She let out a sigh of relief. “Even Mayvin could tell you were close,” she said, though she didn’t seem as upset as before.

Edna pointed her umbrella at Dezel. “You. Explain why you won’t Dive,” she ordered.

“Get your umbrella out of my face, child,” Dezel growled at her.

Lailah flickered a flame between them. “Hostility begets hostility. Edna, please refrain from asking about personal matters at this time. Dezel, understand that for you to grow stronger, you must use Rose and Dive,” she said.

“It’s none of your business, Lailah. I don’t know what sob story Rose told you, but I’m not changing my mind about this,” the wind seraph rebuked.

Mikleo made a block of ice, wrapped it in a cloth that he found lying around, and placed it on Sorey’s forehead where he had been hurt. He gave him a peck on his cheek then joined the conversation, where Edna teased him.

“You haven’t changed at all,” he told him. “Do you hate Rose?”

Dezel refused to answer. Instead, he left the room, his fists tightly clenched in frustration. Rose seemed unaffected, but Alisha knew her history with Dezel. Ever since she was small, Dezel had ignored even basic kindness. Mayvin and the Sparrowfeathers had offered him a place of sanctuary. When Rose had told her one evening years ago that Dezel wished he had been left for dead, she was remarkably in tears. She had heard of the atrocities done to the seraphim, and imagining a disabled seraph like him being trapped in a cage and stabbed and beaten and abused wrenched her heart. Of course, she had always been trying to Dive with him, but she was constantly met with failure. It was discouraging, but Rose always rebounded and asked again. It was as if she believed that constantly asking him would chip away that cold hard shell Dezel had made and reveal the terrified man inside.

“If Dezel doesn’t want you in his soul space, there’s not much you can do about it,” Lailah informed her. “Maybe one day if he opens up to you, then you can Dive, but as it stands right now, it doesn’t seem like it will be possible or safe.”

Rose let out another sigh, yet she knew that there was a way to bond with Dezel. She analyzed Lailah, Mikleo, and Edna. What did they have that Dezel didn’t besides basic decency? What did Lailah, specifically, have with Alisha that allowed the latter to Dive? She remembered the Sacred Blade she had glimpsed at in the den, and Alisha carried it with her now. She eyed Mikleo, who had the Sacred Bow around his chest. Edna had the Sacred Gauntlets somewhere on her person. She realized that she needed to have a Divine Artifact, and she did think she saw part of one in Dezel’s pouches.

“I need to make a pact with him!” Rose finally blurted out. She ran out of the room looking for Dezel, much to the other’s chagrin. “Dezel, come here!”

Mikleo crossed his arms. As good-natured as Rose probably was, she was also someone who didn’t know when to quit. Lailah and Alisha giggled, then silence fell over everyone when Sorey roused.

“Where…am I?” Sorey dazedly asked. His head ached. “Mikleo? Edna?”

Mikleo tended to him, touching his hand lightly and whispering soothingly to him, “I’m right here. How do you feel?”

Edna seemed obliged to sit with him on the bed as he told Mikleo that he was afraid he had lost them to the malevolence. “You took a pretty hard hit to your head, but at least you’re not dead,” the earth seraph smirked. “You missed a lot of drama just now.”

Rose dragged Dezel back into the room, greeting Sorey before begging Lailah to form a pact between her and the wind seraph. Of course, Dezel tried to fight back. Rose endured it.

“I swear, Rose, if you form a pact with me, I’ll kill you if you try to get into my soul space,” Dezel threatened.

“I wouldn’t mind that if I get a peek,” Rose teased. She caught his hands and wrestled him, and she knew that he wouldn’t try to use his wind because he didn’t want to hurt her.   
“Lailah, let’s make a pact!”

Lailah was unsure whether or not to go through with it. She prepared to make the pact between them as Dezel freed himself and pinned Rose down. With her wrists locked in one hand and his other hand covering her mouth so she wouldn’t speak, Dezel snarled:

“I’m friggin’ serious. Lailah, if you make that pact, I’m handing myself over to Rolance.”

Unsure if Dezel would really act on his threats, Lailah declined making the pact between him and Rose. The assassin wasn’t happy, but she accepted it after Alisha explained to her that Dezel’s tone insinuated that he wasn’t afraid to kill himself if it meant his world remained closed to her. Sorey was the only one that was genuinely confused. Mikleo tried to keep him in bed, but the Shepherd didn’t understand why Dezel was so against it. He recalled that he had heard him decline Rose time and time again, but there was never the explanation. The water seraph gripped his wrist as if urging him to stay out of it.

“This is something between them. We have no right to get caught up in their affairs,” Mikleo whispered to him.

Rose moaned and groaned about not being able to Dive until she realized that Sorey and Alisha were probably hungry. After fighting in a war then being flung into the ravine by the Lord of Calamity, who wouldn’t be? She left to find Eguille and the twins and Rosh, which gave Sorey the freedom he had been craving since he started on this journey to explore.

Dezel ordered the brunet to stay put, but it fell on deaf ears. Sorey crept out of the room he had been sleeping in to the main chamber of the Tintagel Ruins. Alisha at his heels, and the seraphim hanging back in the room, he surveryed the entrance to the ruins where he found a large seal.

“Who would have thought that a guild of assassins would shack up in an ancient ruin?” Sorey excitedly said. Edna and Mikleo were surprised that he was already feeling well enough to rummage around.

Mikleo and Edna followed Sorey after deciding that it would be a better idea to make sure he didn’t go alone and pass out somewhere in a crevice. The Shepherd called over his fellow archaeologist to study the seal.

“Pretty cool to find such a seal here, huh?” Sorey asked him like an excited child.

“It is, but what would this imply? That the ruins that lie beyond it are sacred ground?” Mikleo questioned back.

Edna joined Alisha, whom wanted to be part of their conversation, only to criticize them. “One-track minds. It’s a wonder how they’re not dead yet,” she sighed. Lailah and Dezel joined Alisha, too.

“Boys will be boys,” Lailah tittered.

“I’m jealous, though,” Alisha added. “They seem so carefree despite all that’s happened. I suppose it would be refreshing to go exploring for a bit.”

“It could be the middle of an apocalypse, and those idiots would still be laughing about a rock,” Edna said.

Dezel crossed his arms. Sorey and Mikleo’s bond was obvious, and he knew that Lailah and Alisha had achieved the highest level of Diving—at one point before the incident happened. He almost considered letting Rose have a peak. He knew that he could force her out of the soul space if he wanted. Then he reminded himself that there was always something inside that would be waiting to kill her.

“You’re really going to open it?” Mikleo asked Sorey. The brunet just grinned at him. “Fine, it’s race then.”

Alisha, Lailah, and Edna just watched them as they scrambled around the Tintagel Ruins. Rose enjoyed it, too, knowing that they had been through too much; it was refreshing to see something like children playing. She set their bowls of soup on crates that were fashioned into a makeshift table.

There were switches on the floor all around the ruins. When all pressed, they unlocked the tumblers within the seal that kept the rest of the ruins locked away. After Sorey and Mikleo discovered them and used them, they found that the large seal had unlocked and rotated underground, revealing a large room with small windows and no other ways of escape besides the door on the other side in the room. According to Sorey and Mikleo’s knowledge:

“It’s an experimentation room!”

Alisha and Rose met back up with them, and the latter and her seraph were mystified that there was more to their base of operations. Edna was simply unimpressed. In her mind, it was cliché at this point. Either way, it didn’t matter to the assassin. She ran straight ahead of her friends to the chamber opposite to them where there was a lever.

“This is so weird! Who would have thought that there were more rooms to this place?” she asked. She was almost giddy, not about the ruins like Sorey and Mikleo but about the fact that there were more places to hide.

Sorey tried to go after her to keep her from doing anything that would get them hurt or trapped, but it was too late. Dezel was able to make it to her only after she accidentally pushed down too hard.

“Dammit, Rose! Why must you always touch things?!” Dezel fumed. “Shepherd, what’s going on in there? Can you find an exit?”

“How come you’re more concerned about him than me?” Rose tearfully asked.

“This is _not_ the time.”

Sorey was exasperated, but he let Dezel know that they were okay. There were no exits, as he previously noted, and until they could escape, the wind seraph and the assassin would have to work together to help them escape. His only warning was not to press things without weighing the consequences. Their lives were on the line now.

“We’ll get you out as fast as we can,” Rose promised. She and Dezel ventured deeper into the ruins to find a way to open the doors and set them free.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As you can see, Phase 2 will primarily be DezRose. But will they make amends? Will Dezel agree to Diving or not? Tune in next time!


	26. Phase 2: Moving Past Reluctance

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With Sorey and company trapped inside of the room, Dezel and Rose must work our their differences to help them escape.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The fic is going on hiatus again because I need to finish Ar Tonelico 1 and play some of Ar Tonelico 2 because Dives are different in that game. But I'm excited to write some DezRose, especially since my friend just saw Dezel's unclouded eyes.

The first lever that they came to was a trap; Sorey and Alisha were forced to fight off hellions that had, for some reason, been stored in the ceiling. Because they were no longer in range of Eolia’s field Ar Tonelico, their seraphim’s songs were useless. They weren’t defenseless, though. Lailah burned them with her fires, Mikleo poisoned them with his waters, and Edna slowed them down with her stones. Sorey and Alisha fought back to back as the hellions continued to rain from the opening.

As soon as Sorey purified one, Alisha was tied up by two others. Lailah immediately rid them from her legs, the embers reflecting in her jade eyes. “No one will touch my lady,” she warned. Edna dropped a boulder behind her before five others could bite her. “Thank you, Edna!”

Sorey deflected a snake that ludged for Mikleo’s neck, and Mikleo healed him so he could fight without having to worry about getting too injured. “Thanks, Mikleo,” he said. “How are you holding up?”

“A little tired, but nothing compared to when I was singing,” Mikleo replied.

The snakes were all purified and defeated, but Sorey couldn’t be happy. He wasn’t angry per say, but being forced to rely on Rose to remedy her mess left him little hope. He wanted to explore, and while it was exciting to be stuck in something like a puzzle room, there was the potential that they would never escape. Additionally, there was a nagging feeling in his chest that something evil was residing deep inside the ruins. The intensity wasn’t as terrible as the malevolence in Ladylake or Marlind, but it was still strong. He figured that the other could sense it, but perhaps pretending like everything was find would keep everyone levelheaded.

Meanwhile, Rose and Dezel wandered around looking for more controls to the experimentation room. Naturally, the silence was bothering the assassin, and she thought now was the best time to talk to Dezel not about Diving but about whatever came to his mind.

“What do you think?” Rose asked after a few minutes. She glanced up at his face hidden under his hair. “About Sorey and the others?”

“If this is about Diving—”

“It’s not. Do you think we can work with them?” She kept walking. “Do you think that we can help each other to free the seraphim that have been enslaved by humans?”

Dezel grunted. “It’s not that simple,” he murmured. “Sorey is the Shepherd; he has different priorities. Alisha is the princess knight of Hyland, but she has no real power in the government of her country. Even if we helped them, what makes you think that we’ll succeed?”

“Think about it. The Shepherd, the princess of Hyland, and a skilled assassin each with seraphim—we may be a small group, but we can maneuver better than an entire army. Hyland is on alert since Mikleo escaped, but Rolance has no reason to be. If we can use them to fix the problem here, then everything will fall into place.”

Dezel turned to her, stopping in front of her. “You’re being a little too naïve. We can trust Alisha and Lailah, but we know less about Sorey and Mikleo and even less about that earth seraph. The Scattered Bones don’t trust so easily.”

“And since when were you considered part of the guild?” Rose bit.

The wind seraph rushed her against the wall and pinned one of her hands to the wall behind her. He had to restrain himself so he didn’t accidentally hurt her. Rose wasn’t wrong; technically speaking, Dezel wasn’t part of the guild because he had never been allowed to go out with them. Mayvin and the others didn’t treat him as a comrade. They treated him with pitiful kindness which he made every effort to do without. They offered him a place to hide but not a family and shelter. Dezel wasn’t part of the guild; he was precious cargo that they had been smuggling back and forth across the border since he had been found.

“Case in point,” he whispered. He leaned in closer to her ear. “The guild still won’t trust me, and I don’t trust them. Only you have my trust—even if it’s reluctant.”

Rose was frozen in her place. She wasn’t scared of him—rather she was sure that she had finally blown a cannonball through his shell. And his face was so close to hers. She believe he wouldn’t harm her. Dezel backed away from her as he tipped his hat more. He walked ahead of her in search of the locking mechanism on the door. She kept her distance now because she knew that he needed some space. But she was winning the fight. Just a little more and she would be victorious.

As they searched for the correct lever to free their friends, Dezel warned Rose about touching anything without letting him investigate first. He was sure that the first lever probably killed them, and while he was probably inclined to feel guilty, he felt that probably it wasn’t really their fault since the people who used the room long before never put any indication of what the levers did. It made sense, however, that the lever that would open the doors was far away from the other levers because they didn’t want test subjects to run away. So when they came to that lever—the third one farthest from the experimentation room—he had every right to believe that that was the one they wanted. Rumbling rolled through the ruins, and it sounded like something had opened.

“Looks like we got it open,” Dezel sighed.

“That’s good,” Rose smiled.

Suddenly a sharp pain shot through his chest, bringing him to his knees. His human knelt beside him, and as she did, something accosted them. “Rose, get out of here…” Dezel choked.

“What the hell is going on? How did a hellion get in here? It was sealed off!” Rose breathed.

A dragon newt—a young dragon type—loomed over them with a large sword ready to slice their heads off. As much as she wanted to get Dezel to safety, she couldn’t move.

“Damn it, Rose, go!”

“I’m not leaving you. But…”

Sorey, Edna, and Mikleo rushed in upon hearing the dragon newt’s roaring. Alisha and Lailah came to Rose and Dezel’s aid. They had a ful arsenal of Seraphic Artes at their disposal.

“Lailah, Alisha, we’ll buy you time. Get Dezel and Rose somewhere safe!” Sorey ordered. Mikleo and Edna took to his sides.

Mikleo and Edna began casting their Seraphic Artes while Sorey tried to stab and slice the hellion. Alisha guarded Lailah as she cast her Imbuement spell on Dezel. The Arte didn’t have any effect in alleviating the pain from the malevolence, and they only had so much time before the dragon newt killed Sorey and attacked them. Rose didn’t want to just sit on the sidelines and watch, either. She pulled out her daggers, screaming hysterically and swinging around at the monster. She ran right past the hellion, which confused it before it decided to chase after her. She stopped at a ledge that fell into the depths of the ruins.

“What is that idiot doing?” Dezel grumbled. “Lailah, protect your human. I’ve worked through this pain before, I can do it again.” Dezel pushed himself up, but Lailah grabbed his wrist. “What are you doing?”

“Dezel, you can’t beat a hellion like this at your level. I advise you to form a pact with Rose, supplement your strength with your bond,” she told him.

“I refuse!”

“Dezel, you must! You won’t survive long like this. If the malevolence is causing you this much trouble, make Rose your vessel!”

Alisha joined the fray just as Sorey was swatted into the wall. Mikleo healed him at once and Edna placed a barrier around him. She went on the offense, raising stone pikes out of the ground to immobilize the dragon newt. In retaliation, it smashed them with its guillotine-like sword. Rose threw herself into battle again, this time actually attacking the monster. It grabbed her by her neck, holding her high above the others.

“Rose!” Sorey cried out.

“Hang on!” Alisha told her as she stabbed its arm. “Let her go!”

“Rose!” Dezel breathed, sensing her distress in the stagnant air.

Rose squirmed while trying to find a vulnerable spot to cut herself loose. She had fought hellions before, but none as strong as the dragon newt. Dezel pushed Lailah aside and whipped his pendulums around the hand holding her up and choking her. He yanked on the cords, which freed the assassin. He chanted out:

_hYImOmOrO/._   
_fYIwOrOn dYIngO dea guwo mea/._   
_fYIwOrO engua yor ag dYIzO/._

The dragon newt roared and screeched, grabbing its head in aching pain. Dezel continued chanting the incantation. Sorey took the opportunity to attack the hellion, and before he could call out to Lailah to purify it with her fires, the malevolence dispelled. A white dog lay on the ground.

“A…A dog?” Mikleo stammered. He stepped behind Sorey, his fear of the four-legged creature creeping up on him.

“Not just any dog; this one is a seraph,” Lailah noted. “Looks like he got trapped down here, and the malevolence from the experimentation room got to him.” She turned to Dezel, who was strangely analyzing the bruises on Rose’s neck. “A-hem, Dezel?”

The wind seraph used his own healing Seraphic Arte, Quickness, to heal the bruises. Rose thanked him, but he shied away tipping his hat down.

“Dezel, please listen to me.” She held his wrist again. She refused to let go. “You’re scared of Rose getting hurt, aren’t you? If you form a pact with her, then you can protect her. You’ll be able to sing more and stronger Songs. Her body and soul will protect you from the malevolence.”

Sorey and Mikleo sat close with the former’s arm around the latter’s waist. Alisha held Lailah’s hand. Edna simply twirled her umbrella, saying, “Honestly, it’s too much of a bonus to pass up.”

Dezel turned his head towards Lailah, marching up to her with blood boiling. “I’ve already told each one of you I am not making a pact,” he growled. “Humans are nothing but detriments. Just because you guys formed bonds and lived in this pretend world—a farce of happiness—doesn’t mean that I can. I don’t need a human to make me strong. All I need is the will to exact revenge.”

“That way of thinking will ge you killed,” Mikleo rebuked. “The malevolence—”

“Don’t act like you know everything, child!”

Sorey, Alisha, and Rose got in the middle of everyone. Hearing the seraphim fight made the princess want to cry. It made Sorey question if he could really help seraphim and humans coexist. It made Rose angry, so angry that she finally couldn’t stand it anymore. She slapped Dezel’s cheek when he was too focused on the other seraphim around him.

He grabbed her arms tightly. “How dare you—”

“Just shut up already!” Rose sobbed. “How dare you make a girl cry…”

Dezel was dumbfounded. He slowly let go of her arms. “R-Rose…”

“Is that why you didn’t want to form a pact? To go on living for revenge? Why can’t I form a pact with you and help you? You’ve protected me a lot, so let me protect you. The Scattered Bones may not want you around, but I do. I promise that you’ll be safe. Just stop getting mad at the others, and stop acting like I’m going to drag you down.”

The wind seraph was at a loss for words. It was a rare sight to see the assassin cry, and as much as he hated to admit it, it broke his heart every time. He placed his hand on her head, pulled her in, and rested his chin on his hand. He conceded to Lailah.

“What do I have to do to form a pact?” he quietly asked. He faced her.

Lailah smiled. She instructed them to face each other and close their eyes. Imagining each other, Rose felt the need to protect him and Dezel felt a quiet gratitude. After they opened their eyes and Dezel pulled the Sacred Knife from one of his pouches, the fire seraph told Dezel to repeat:

“ _Rrha ki erra crannidale dea chiess ture mean_. My true name is…”

Rose lifted herself on her toes, and they shared a trembling kiss. As if relieved, Dezel whispered sweetly on her lips: “ _Lukeim Yurlin_.”

The Sacred Knife shined brilliantly, forcing Rose to shield her eyes. A new power was flowing through her like a melancholic breeze. The pact between her and her seraph had been made.

Dezel wasn’t ecstatic about forming the pact, but Rose was overjoyed. She latched onto his arm, swinging his clenched fist with all the innocence of a small child. She was one step closer to Diving into him!

“Hey, Dezel, since we’re bonded together now, what do you say to Div—”

“No,” he interrupted. “Just because we’ve formed a pact doesn’t me that I have to let you in.”

Sorey let out a sigh. He didn’t want to force Dezel into letting Rose Dive into him, but they were going to be in the ruins for a while waiting for the dog seraph to awaken. They couldn’t leave him, and sitting around waiting for other hellions to find them was boring in and of itself. He hinted to him to let Rose in.

“Sounds like a personal problem,” Dezel smirked. “Besides, don’t you know anything about Diving? I expected more from you, Lailah.”

Lailah allowed him to explain. Dezel was a different type of seraph that gained his powers from the tower Frelia’s Infel Phira. It resulted in his different dialect in Hymmnos, and naturally he had to use a different method to participate in Dives. Of course, he didn’t disclose that information since he didn’t want Rose in his soul space. It dawned on Mikleo as well why Dezel was particularly powerless in the Hyland region of the continent—it was the same reason why he and the other seraphim couldn’t sing in the Rolance region now. But after some convincing headlocks and death threats, Dezel explained in further detail why Dives were different.

“You can’t Dive by yourself; you have to have another seraph with you,” he told them.

“Well, that’s easy! We’ve got three seraphim we can use!” Rose grinned.

“Sure, if you’ve got a death wish.”

Alisha figured that it had to be a certain kind of seraph, and she wasn’t wrong. The seraph to facilitate the Dive had to be trained in Dive Therapy, as it was called in Rolance. Not just any seraph could do it.

“It was outlawed some time ago because seraphim were using it to kill the people who enslaved them. They were caught and executed, and the Rolance Emperor made it punishable by death for seraphim to undergo Dive Therapy. Even when _that_ started happening…”

Dezel suddenly became quiet, a wave of trepidation blowing into Rose. She had to wonder, did something terrible happen to the Rolance seraphim?

“He’s waking up!” Sorey notified. Edna leaned in close while Mikleo hid behind the Shepherd.

The dog seraph opened his eyes and greeted them as if he had never been asleep, “Oh, how do you do? My name is Oysh.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Like I said, hiatus! Hopefully I can finish the game soon and get it rolling again. I'm tempted to start Ar Tonelico 3 again.


	27. Phase 2:  A World for the Blind

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cosmosphere Level 1: Dezel
> 
> _ENTER root.mea_   
>  _SET G.W.C. 3600Hmag/s_   
>  _0x01_   
>  _SET StartF 19021Hz_   
>  _0x01_   
>  _COM:_   
>  _Ma num ra flip 0x0011000011_   
>  _yor enter COSMOSPHERE.mea/._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I got to Cloche's first level within 20 minutes of Ar Tonelico 2, and between reading and watching about IPD cosmopheres and playing it, it's not as complicated as I thought.

“My name is Oysh. I’m a seraph that had been trapped down here for decades when humans first began their experiments on seraphim,” the dog explained. “It seems that the malevolence finally accumulated enough to give birth to a Virus and turn me into a hellion. Strangely enough, I’m surprised that a Virus was able to infect a seraph under Frelia’s domain, then again, I’m not an IPD seraph.”

Sorey and Rose raised their hands. They were confused by what he had said, and while it seemed like simple logic to Oysh and Dezel, the other seraphim who had always been confined to Shurelia’s domain and thus coverage from Eolia. The wind seraph let out an exasperated sigh then explained it so his new companions would be able to understand.

The Viruses that were wreaking havoc in the Hyland region were a manifestation that could only exist under Eolia, and to an extent Tilia, due to the type of server within them. Frelia used a different server called Infel Phira, which was exponentially weaker than Eolia’s server Ar Tonelico. Even though the power output was small, seraphim compatible with it were able to sing faster and more effectively. Such seraphim were called Infel Phira Dependent seraphim, or IPDs. Infel Phira operated in Modes, in which all IPD seraphim were used in tandem to each other or individually depending on the Mode. This, however, would overload the server, so at any given point in time, only a select number of IPD seraphim could sing at once.

“That said, seraphim who are not IPDs are still able to be infected by Viruses should they venture to Eolia’s and Tilia’s domain,” Dezel concluded.

Rose crossed her arms in thought. It seemed easy enough to understand, but she still couldn’t shake the brief moment of anxiety that had overcome Dezel when she made her pact. She decided that she would look into it later now that they had another seraph who lived under Frelia and probably had experience in Proxy Dives.

“Mr. Oysh!” she happily said. “Do you think you could do me a favor?”

“Rose, I said—”

Rose pushed her hand in Dezel’s face, covering his mouth. “I just made a pact with this seraph, and I know that Diving can help them craft more and stronger Songs. Think you could help me out?”

Sorey and Alisha giggled, but Mikleo, Edna, and Lailah didn’t find it funny. Edna jabbed Sorey’s side with her umbrella. “Why are you laughing?” she grumbled. “Don’t you know that she could die? If Dezel rejects her, he could potentially kill her.”

“I don’t think he would do that,” Sorey foolishly said.

“He has every right and the power to do so,” Lailah countered. “It may seem easy to you and Alisha, but it’s no laughing matter for someone as inexperienced as Rose. In fact, had Mikleo not been remedied of his problem and it persisted, he would have killed you, too, if you tried to Dive while he was under attack.”

Mikleo looked away. He knew it could have happened, but he was happy that it didn’t. He’d never forgive himself if Sorey died while he was inside of his soul.

Oysh sat in front of Rose and Dezel, glancing back and forth between the two. He was hesitant; he sensed the reluctance that the wind seraph still had about forming his pact with Rose, and he admired that a human—despite her seraph seemingly hating her—was willing to try. But he couldn’t do it.

“Why not?” Rose questioned.

“It’s true that I do have some experience in working as a proxy. Why, that may have been the reason I was trapped down here. But it is against my constitution to force a seraph to allow a human to stroll around in their soul space against their will. It’s an invasion of privacy for one, and if you get hurt, you won’t be able to leave his soul so easily,” Oysh sternly told her.

Rose got on her knees, begging that Oysh let her in. The dog simply told her to ask her seraph, which she knew would go nowhere.

Sorey stepped up behind Dezel. “Please, just let her go into one level,” he softly asked, now treating the issue with some tact. “If she gets to see one level, then maybe she’ll stop asking you.”

Mikleo again looked away. Both of them knew that Rose wouldn’t stop asking after the first level, and Dezel wasn’t stupid. But he had a point that there was the potential of silencing her for good about this whole predicament. Dezel grunted, but he finally conceded…again.

“Fine, Rose, I’ll let you in for one level, but after that—”

Rose wrapped her arms around his neck and spun around. “Yay! I can finally see what it’s like!”

Oysh didn’t feel comfortable with the amount of manipulation, but it was ultimately Dezel’s choice. Rose and Dezel Armatized together, but it wasn’t a second later before they separated. It wasn’t the same process as everyone else from Eolia’s domain had thought. Oysh instructed them for a Proxy Dive. They all sat on the ground, the Sacred Knife just a few centimeters above the dog’s head and held between the human and seraph. Closing their eyes, they focused on the knife, and when they reopened them, Sorey and Alisha and their seraphim were gone.

 _“Where did everyone go?”_ Rose asked. She called out to Sorey. _“I don’t like this…”_

Oysh chuckled. This was simply what it was like to use a proxy to Dive. If they didn’t use him, Rose would have been able to go directly into Dezel’s soul space, encounter a persona of his, die at that persona’s hands, and finally die in reality. Of course, the wind seraph had only speculated it, and he didn’t necessarily want a corpse rotting inside of his mind.

 _“Everyone is gone because you are in my mind. While you’re here, I can prepare a specific area within the soul space for you to use for crafting Songs. The process to Dive then is simply the same procedure as that with seraphim under Eolia’s domain,”_ Oysh finished explaining.

With that, Rose cautiously took the Sacred Knife and Armatized with Dezel. Within the soul space, she found that she was naked just like Dezel. She was accustomed to seeing men half-naked, but it was strange to see Dezel in full nude mainly because he was the type to insist on wearing his clothes until just the moment before he got into the bath. Rose tried desperately to cover her intimate parts, but naturally Dezel was blasé about it. He was blind. She had to get use to it if she sincerely wanted to Dive again…if he let her.

 _“Okay, so you Armatized with me, and now I Dive into you?”_ she asked, trying to sound as if nothing was wrong. She prepared to dive by bending her knees and putting her hands together. _“Won’t this hurt?”_

 _“You dumbass,”_ Dezel growled. _“It’s not like that.”_ He blushed. _“All you do is…touch my chest right where my heart is.”_

 _“That’s it?”_ She walked up to him. It seemed both otherworldly and cliché to her, but there was no other way around it. Her hand hovered over where she was told to touch him, and Dezel tensed immediately. She pulled back. _“What’s wrong?”_

Dezel grimaced. He’d never done something like this before, and to do it with the girl that had saved him twelve years ago—the girl about whom he has lived with and learned about and shared meals with even though he hated it all—it was nerve-wracking. He had to trust her, but developing that trust was a mountain of a task.

 _“Just…promise that you won’t do anything stupid,”_ he told her. Rose slowly lowered her arm; she was seeing a completely different side of Dezel, and she wasn’t sure if she wanted to go on. It was like when he was talking about Dive Therapy being illegal in Rolance. He was suddenly subdued, almost timid. _“Get it over with. We can’t waste Oysh’s time.”_

Rose gently touched Dezel’s chest, light blinding her as she entered his world.

\---------------------------------------------------

Rose arrived at Dezel’s Stonehenge. The world was shrouded in darkness, and she couldn’t help but bump into the stones strewn about. Her eyes slowly grew accustomed but not after they strained to see everything around her.

“Why is it so dark here? Is it because he’s blind?” Rose asked herself. “It seems so lonely, too. Is anyone here?”

Suddenly a version of Dezel that looked like an art teacher with sunglasses, a beret, and a fashionable vest stormed up to her. He tipped down his glasses to get a good look at her before accosting her.

“You’re not welcome here,” he growled. “I suggest you leave right now, or I’ll force you out!”

“W-Wait, I haven’t even done anything!” Rose panicked.

The artsy Dezel fired a ball of wind at her, but it didn’t have any effect. Baffled, the artsy Dezel tried again to exterminate her, and again his magic didn’t work. He kept trying until Rose heard Oysh’s voice chant something in Hymmnos. With the “Sublimate” command, the artsy Dezel was promptly removed from the soul space, crying out in pain.

“Is this what Sorey has to go through every time he Dives?” Rose whimpered. She let out a sigh then headed from the Stonehenge to a city that looked similar to Ladylake. “It’s dark here, too.”

The red-haired assassin glanced around. There wasn’t really anyone out and about, and she figured it was because it felt like the dead of night. Then she found her seraph dressed in his normal attire. He seemed to be surveying the area.

“Dezel! I found you!” Rose happily said. “Why is it so dark here?”

Dezel turned around with a scowl. “I don’t remember inviting you here,” he snapped at her. She flinched. “There’s no reason for you to be here, so just pack up and leave.”

Rose puffed out a cheek to keep herself from yelling at him. “I just got here! You agreed to let me be here!” she said with slightly less bite than what she was expecting.

“Oh? Did I also think that you knew how to fix this problem? No, I didn’t think so. Just get out of here; I’m busy.”

Rose softened. Even after all the headache of getting Dezel to form a pact with her and allow her into his soul, he was still adamant about keeping her at a distance. She simply decided to follow his orders, turning on her heel and walking to the edge of Ladylake.

“All I want to do is help you,” she said just within earshot of him.

Dezel’s interest was piqued as he felt guilty for yelling at a girl. He caught up to her, grabbing her wrist and spinning her around like a dancer.

“It was wrong to just get mad at you. If I really did say you could be here in the real world, then fine. I should at least give you a chance to do what you came here to do and fix the problem.” Rose instantly smiled at the prospect of helping Dezel, and she asked him what she could do. “This world has suddenly gone dark, and I don’t really know how to fix it. There are rumors that the spirit of the light has been trapped somewhere. If you manage to free it, then I’ll think about working with you again.”

“You got it!” Rose eagerly told him.

She went on her way to look for the spirit of the light. She left Ladylake and headed to what looked like part of a tower. It seemed like it was much darker here as well, as if the tower was absorbing any traces of illumination that managed to come from candles and from Ladylake. She only found two silhouettes of some creatures dancing around at the foot, but it was impossible to determine anything else.

“Is someone there?” Rose asked.

“It’s so dark,” one of the creatures complained.

“I hope the light comes back soon,” the other sighed.

The creatures acted as if Rose wasn’t even there next to them. She left their company, returning to Ladylake in search of wherever the light was being kept. Where would something be trapped in the city? She remembered that the Vivia Subterranean Aqueduct resided under the Rountabel Palace, and it was a place where prisoners were kept long ago. She made her way to the entrance, opening the door and slipping inside.

She walked deeper and deeper into the aqueduct until she finally came to where there were prison cells and rotting bones. The musty smell urged her to find the spirit of the light quickly.

“Hello? Spirit of the light?” Rose called out in the echoing halls of the aqueduct. “I’m here to liberate you.”

There was no answer.

“C-Come on out! I really don’t want to be down here longer than I have to be!”

“Help…” something whispered.

Rose turned around to help the spirit of the light…only it wasn’t the spirit of the light. A skeleton possessed by malevolence stared back into Rose’s eyes with red beady eyes. The assassin was not fond of ghosts or the undead, so she instinctively swatted the skeleton away before racing down the hall of cells.

“Where is that damn thing?!” she cried.

“Lass, are you lost?” a tiny voice asked from one of the cells. It was a brown Normin with a crucifix around its neck.

“Are you the the spirit of the light?” Rose whimpered. “Please, there are angry skeletons chasing me. I may be an assassin, but I can’t handle things that come back to life. At least, not by myself. Ghosts and stuff like that—uh-uh, no way!”

When Rose turned around again, she found that there was now a horde of the skeletons was on the way for her head. The Normin commanded Rose to keep running, and as the skeletons passed its cell, it shot them with arrows of light that reduced them to dust.

“Lass, come open this door. I’m far too small to do it myself,” the Normin asked her at the entrance to the aqueduct. Rose did as she was told. “My name is Litsch, the queller of the undead and the spirit of the light. To what do I owe this honor?”

Rose explained the situation, and Litsch was perplexed. It tapped its chin with its nubby arm. It found it strange that Dezel was looking for the spirit of the light when it had been locked away. Ultimately, Litsch asked her to take it to the foot of the tower.

When Rose brought Litsch out of the aqueduct, she was met with an annoyed Dezel. His arms were crossed, and he bared his pointy teeth at them. “I didn’t think you’d actually find it, let alone free it from its cell,” he snarled. “I knew I should have killed it when I had the chance!”

The wind seraph whipped out his pendulums, wrapping Litsch in a tangling mess of cord. Rose sliced one of the pendulums with her daggers, the other angled up at Dezel’s neck. He couldn’t move, and the Normin freed itself.

“We’ve got to get to the tower! Leave this fool for now!” it commanded.

“You’re not going anywhere!” Dezel roared.

Rose kicked him away then made a break for it behind Litsch; Dezel chased them. The silhouettes that had been at the tower were gone now, and it was here at the center of the darkness where Litsch finally used its power.

“Normin Power!” Litsch cried out. The crucifix shined brilliantly, and suddenly all the darkness in the world was gone. It was bright as midday, and Rose could finally see Dezel’s world. “We can see again!” it celebrated, but it was perhaps too early. Dezel appeared a few feet away from them. “It’s the master of this world.”

Dezel approached Rose while Litsch prepared an arrow of light again. But he just stood there. Rose could almost see his face underneath his green-tipped hair. He raised his hand. Rose couldn’t help but flinch. This Dezel wasn’t her Dezel. Then she felt him pat her head. This Dezel was not her Dezel.

“I’m impressed,” Dezel softly, kindly said. “Maybe you do have what it takes to survive this hell of a soul space.”

The assassin, carefree in her ways, for once felt grounded, but not in a sense that made her drag her feet. She glanced up at Dezel’s obscure face; a shining sliver of peridot peeked through the strands. This Dezel was somewhat different from the real one.

Litsch smiled. He informed Rose that its ability would be usable by Dezel now. Just as Rose was about to leave, another voice called out to them. The brown Normin peered from behind her legs to find a green Normin who looked particularly sleepy.

“The darkness is gone,” it yawned. “Master Dezel is no longer angry. And a human is here? What did I miss?”

“Who are you?” Rose asked.

The green Normin looked up with sparkling eyes. “My name is Windur. I’m Dezel’s guardian. When his world became shrouded in darkness, I went to sleep. Quite strange that a human like you could pull off such a change—a change so big that he’s even capable of having a Paradigm Shift and advancing to the next level of growth. Even stranger is that there’s a human here at all. Dezel always hated humans.” Windur examined Rose. “Hmm, I can sense something special from you, but the aura coming from Dezel is also peculiar. Anyway, we can talk later. Let’s get him to the Paradigm Shift.”

For Dezel to be the master of the world, he was treated like a prop. It seemed weird, but since she had no frame of reference, Rose couldn’t be sure. She followed Windur with Dezel behind her to the Stonehenge. There, she watched Dezel approach the rays of light shooting from the rock pillars.

“So this is a Paradigm Shift? And it means that you’ve changed your thinking so you can mature, right? I mean, that’s basic psychology,” she murmured.

“I can’t believe you managed it, though,” Dezel embarrassedly said. “This means that you really can manage to go deeper.” The red-haired assassin asked him if that was a problem. “I don’t know if I’m ready to trust you that much, but…I feel like I should also give you the chance to prove yourself. Got it, Rose? You can go deeper, but I won’t let you screw things up! I’ll wrap you up so tight that you won’t even be able to breathe.”

Rose sighed at first but was happy to see that Dezel was a little more expressive on the inside. She watched him disappear into the light before she went back to reality.

\-------------------------------------------------------

Rose woke next to Dezel, who was holding onto her hand somewhat tightly. Sorey and Mikleo were waiting to know if it was a good experience while Alisha, Edna, and Lailah were off to the side giving her the space she needed. She would want to talk with Dezel about what had gone on in his mind, and it wasn’t right to eavesdrop. Lailah called the young men away from them before Dezel roused.

“Well?” Dezel curtly asked her.

“It wasn’t so bad,” Rose truthfully told him lying next to him. “It was a little scary, but that’s where all the adventure is. How do you feel? Do you feel like anything has changed? Can you trust me more?”

“I just woke up, so I don’t know if everything is how it should be.” Dezel turned away. “But…I guess I wouldn’t mind it if you did it again. Just don’t screw anything up. A seraph’s soul space is special.”

Rose gave him a confident smile. Still, she wasn’t sure if he was only saying it to be nice. Oysh was sitting in front of them. “This is what it means to Dive,” he neither happily nor irritably said. It was like a fact of life for them now. “Use it carefully, and you’ll be strong in no time.”

Sorey and Mikleo were relieved that it turned out to be beneficial to their new friends, even though one of them didn’t necessarily show it. It meant Rose would stop asking about it and they could move on in peace. But while the entire episode had led to her being able to bond with Dezel and make a pact, they were still stuck in that little septum. And something was calling Sorey and the seraphim deeper still.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A little too on the nose, but Cloche's first level is pretty much perfect for Dezel.


	28. Phase 2:  Mural of Trials

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After Rose completes her Dive into Dezel, the Shepherd's crew ventures deeper into Tintagel Ruins to the mural of trials

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hahaha...so I just kept writing and forgot that I'm supposed to update. Well I'm also doing NaNoWriMo, and while this chapter isn't included, I'm hoping to get to another 100K words. It starts with Chapter 31

Heldalf stood alone at Glaivend Basin among the rotting corpses of the fallen soldiers who had gone insane and killed each other. He had sent Symonne on a reconnaissance mission; her task was to find and eliminate the Squires and the seraphim and to bring the Shepherd to him. The less friends that Sorey had around him, the easier it would be to corrupt his heart. Heldalf knew about the Seraphoid Project, and while he wasn’t a seraph, he was deeply interested in learning whether or not a hellion—the Lord of Calamity himself—could be used in place of a seraph. The power that would come from their merging would be more than enough to obliterate the world and start it anew.

“How long do you plan to stay at my side?” he suddenly asked. “I sensed your presence when the Shepherd was here, and I can tell you’re no regular seraph. You possess the power of a Reyvateil, yet you are here on the ground among wretches.”

The shadowy figure of the girl with long hair materialized behind him. Her skin was pale, almost pure white, enshrouded in the blackest hair. “My name is Mir,” she said. “I am the Mother Virus, the first and the strongest Reyvateil to ever exist.”

“The Mother Virus, you say?”

“Surely you did not think you were the only one producing the hellions. The malevolence that is generated from your existence is the seed, but it is not the only thing. My power germinates those seeds inside of living things. Essentially, we are one and the same split into two beings.”

Heldalf was intrigued by the Mother Virus. There was nothing more interesting than a Reyvateil that catalyzed the creation of the very beings that wanted to destroy the world she was supposed to love.

“If we are one and the same, then what is your end goal?” he asked her as if testing her volition.

“I wish to see the destruction of this world and the birth of a new one. Humans and seraphim and the Origins—all of them must be annihilated. Once these harbingers of ruin are erased, the world will be reborn. Humans and seraphim will be born again, but they will live in the harmony that that foolish boy craves, a pure harmony that can only be forged through rebirth.”

Mir peered up at Heldalf through her long, black, gangly hair. Her fuschia eyes were full of hate.

“You have another seraph with you. I will go with her and supplement her magic. In return, I want her to take me to the Origins so that I can kill them. She will be my vessel across this forsaken continent.”

An evil grin stretched across Heldalf’s lion face. Killing the Origin Reyvateils would certainly inhibit Sorey’s actions. If his seraphim couldn’t fight, he was defenseless, and if he was defenseless, he would be easily influenced. All men feared death; the Shepherd was no exception.

“We have a deal. When Symonne returns, I will have her take you to where you please,” he agreed. Mir smiled, bloodlust radiating from her.

\-------------------------------------

“Man, I’m so tired suddenly!” Rose yawned. “Do you usually feel sleepy after a Dive?”

Lailah giggled. “You shouldn’t since you’re asleep when you do it,” she explained. She figured that the excitement of everything was the culprit. She looked at Sorey, who seemed distracted by something. “Do you sense something?”

“Kind of,” Sorey murmured. He took a step towards the edge of the Dragon Corridor which was lined with the statues of the eight serpentine dragons. “Oysh, do you know what’s back there?”

The dog stared down the corridor, and he saw something of a painting at the end of the hall. He wouldn’t answer, and considering that the Tintagel Ruins was full of switches and there was no walkway, it was up to them to solve the puzzle and find out what it was. Edna and Mikleo took it upon themselves to find the three switches that would open the walkway.

There were hellions all throughout these ruins, and while the two seraphim could hold their own against them, it was still exhausting to fight through the malevolence and under Frelia’s domain. The switches were on either side of a wall underneath the corridor and in one of the chambers, and they were guarded by a couple of skeleton hellions that were weak to earth but strong against water.

Edna sighed as she was already bored with the undead magician skeletons in her way in front of the first switch. She placed a number of rock mines around her before she shot her stone lances from the floor into them. One of the skeletons weaved in and out of her lances, breaking her defenses and leaping over her head.

“Air Pressure!” she called out. Immediately, the skeleton crashed into the floor. It launched a ball of water at her, and while it didn’t wound her greatly, she was poisoned by it, which she attributed to her distance away from Sorey and the malevolence that had weakened her. She used Rock Lance once more, killing the hellions and clearing the path to the switch.

“Damn hellions keep messing up my dress,” she panted. She shuffled around in her umbrella until she found a panacea bottle that she had received from her brother long ago from one of his voyages at sea. “Barrier,” she said, healing her wounds and buffering her defense while she set out to stepping on the switch. An old ruin that had so many traps was sure to have one more on the switch itself, but there wasn’t.

Meanwhile, Mikleo was holding his own against the mob of skeletons protecting another switch. Their water attacks did little to nothing against him, and he was somewhat more immune to their poisoning aspect. “Ice Reaver!” he cried out as he smashed them with slabs of ice. The skeletons crumbled, and he stepped on the second switch. “Better make sure I’m not missing anything.”

He left the alcove where the switch was, joining with Edna in the center chamber where they both spotted an irisdescent orb. They carefully approached it. Edna picked it up, commenting that it felt heavier than it looked. It shined brilliantly like a golden sun, and it was about the size of a ball small enough to just fill Edna’s hand. People could be seen inside of it.

“Interesting that this would be here,” the earth seraph commented. Mikleo looked perplexed. “It’s an Earthen Historia.”

“What do they do?” he asked.

“Figure it out, dummy. They’re special gems made from the earthpulse. At certain points where the earthpulse is extremely concentrated, the events of the past become imprinted in them, almost like a fossilized record of what happened long ago.”

Edna held onto it thinking that it was something that Sorey would want to see. The events that played within its core were clear as day to a seraph, but a human wouldn’t be able to perceive them. The earth seraph wasn’t too familiar with Earthen Historia gems, but she assumed that the one she and Mikleo had found could only be interpreted by those with her affinity for earth elements.

The two seraphim walked together, finding the final switch then headed back to the dragon corridor where Edna handed Sorey the glowing orb. Lailah’s singsong voice cried out, “an iris gem,” as Sorey turned it around and around in his hand. He was both intrigued and confused, and after Lailah and Edna explained what exactly it was, Dezel snatched it away. “Dezel!”

“This one only reacts with earth seraphim, but Sorey won’t be able to see anything,” he told them.

Edna hid behind her umbrella. She figured as much, and she knew the only way for Sorey to see into it was to Armatize with her. If he had already Dived as deep as he could into her soul, then it would have been easy. Unfortunately, he hadn’t even cracked through the surface. She ordered him to simply hold onto it for now.

“But don’t you think it’s important to know what’s going on?” Sorey asked her.

“It wouldn’t matter. The events within Earthen Historia are recorded in such a way that Dezel explained, and if I tried to recite its lyrics, you won’t be able to hear them,” Edna replied. “The ancient language of the continent—Ar Ciela—is pretty much like a code. Only certain seraphim can understand it. Eizen…used to know.”

The group fell silent before Rose nudged them to take the path towards the mural. And Dezel reluctantly escorted them to the other side of the corrior by blowing them across ledges that had pushed out of the walls like a bridge. As they got closer to the mural, Sorey’s chest tightened. Alisha and Rose felt nauseous and their seraphim were struck with splitting headaches.

“Such malevolence,” Sorey coughed.

“Why would there be so much here?” Mikleo asked.

“This place was an experimentation facility, so it wouldn’t be a surprise if the seraphim they tortured ended up over here with no way of escaping,” Edna explained.

“Not to mention some of the drawings on here look like…” Lailah trailed off.

“They probably used their remains to paint it,” Dezel concluded.

“But why? Isn’t it bad enough that they tested on them?” Rose angrily questioned.

Alisha remembered Chancellor Bartlow’s plans to turn the seraphim of Hyland into Seraphoids. She worried how many they had converted since they had escaped. She wanted to go back, but Sorey needed Lailah’s power, and they couldn’t just transfer the pact. Lailah wasn’t as accepting of him as she was of her even if she was nice about it.

The mural on the wall smelled like iron, and before they recognized how it was painted, Lailah caught their attention. It was a large map of the Glenwood Continent with the Towers and the symbols of the four elements painted on it. Eolia was to the northeast of Ladylake, Frelia was between two areas called Meadow of Triumph and Pearloats Pasture, and Tilia was in a place called Plitzerback Wetland. The symbols of the elements were in places far harder to discern.

It was then that Sorey realized that each of the Divine Artifacts had those emblems. Were they related? He pulled out the Celestial Record that he had packed away so long ago, and sure enough within the aged pages were descriptions of trials. He was learned about the legend of the Shepherds, but this was a detail that had either been glossed over in the book or it was a secret.

“What does it say?” Mikleo asked.

“The Celestial Record doesn’t say much, but it looks like all Shepherds…‘searched far and wide for the spiritual powers that aided them in the preservation of the continent and the fight against darkness’,” Sorey replied.

“Huh, the author likes riddles,” Edna scoffed. “It’s pretty easy to figure out. The symbols on here mark where we can find the spiritual powers. The only question is why do we need them.”

Lailah fidgeted. She faintly remembered something, and the more she focused on it, the heavier her heart became. She glanced at Alisha. She couldn’t tell her because something deep inside felt like it would hurt her.

“There’s no harm in getting them,” Rose decided.

Sorey nodded. Shepherds worked with seraphim to fight the malevolence before, and since they had met the Lord of Calamity, the only logical reason to acquire these powers was to stop him. Putting the book away, he rallied his friends.

“Don’t get ahead of yourself,” Dezel warned him. “What if the Lord of Calamity knew about this long before you did?”

Sorey put a finger to his lips in thought. “That just means we have to be careful. I don’t intend to let any of you get hurt. Even if…” he looked at Mikleo, “Even if my body can’t handle the burden of carrying two seraphim, or if I bond with another one or three more, I won’t let you guys get hurt.”

Mikleo hid his hands behind his back, clenching them in frustration that only Edna could see as another seraph connected to the same human. Alisha spoke up before he could say how he felt about such a careless promise:

“I’ve been wondering for a while, but why can Sorey connect with more than one seraph?”

“Can we connect with more than just one?” Rose added.

Lailah shook her head. She explained to the two girls that Sorey had a particular aptitude; specifically, his resonance was much higher than theirs because he was raised among seraphim and therefore was pure. Dezel cleared his throat, slipping in that Rose was just under the cut to be able to house more than one seraph, but it was all or nothing. If she tried to enter a pact with another seraph, her soul would strain, and she would die slowly and painfully. Rose, however, believed that to be a dirty lie because Dezel was secretly possessive and would get jealous of other seraphim not unlike Mikleo.

“Regardless, I mean what I say, Mikleo and Edna. I’ll do everything in my power as the Shepherd,” Sorey again promised. This time, he was looking straight at Mikleo. He didn’t want him to get hurt like he did in Ladylake ever again.

“Save the bedroom eyes for the bedroom, Sorey,” Rose scolded. She turned back to leave the mural. The malevolence wasn’t weakening, but it wasn’t strengthening either. She wasn’t sure if they were becoming accustomed, but she knew that the Sparrowfeathers wouldn’t be able to stay within Tintagel Ruins anymore. “Let’s get some shut-eye. Tomorrow morning, we head for Pendrago and find information on where we can find these trials.”

“Are you fucking insane?” Dezel snapped at her. “You know what happens to seraphim in Pendrago!”

“It’ll be okay,” she softly replied. “We won’t stay there long enough for the Rolance army to capture you.”

Alisha and Sorey exchanged curious looks; but Lailah, Mikleo, and Edna felt like things weren’t much better in Pendrago. Perhaps they were worse.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not gonna lie. I hit a bit of Writer's block after the Dive because I haven't gotten to play AT2 in a while and I haven't been able to play Zesty due to school. But I'm slowly getting back the motivation and ideas. Forewarning though, from here on, the Dives will probably be more back to back because there are now four seraphim that Sorey, Alisha, and Rose can Dive into.


	29. Phase 2: Artisan City of the Great Bell

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dezel lets Sorey and Mikleo in on a secret he desperately wants to keep from Rose. The Zesty crew make it to Lastonbell after a run in with the guards.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I kind of like how I'm writing Dezel. I'm looking at more fanart of him and appreciating him, and it's doing wonders.

Sorey’s company returned to the other side of the dragon corridor where Oysh asked them what they thought about the mural. He let on that he knew what the emblems on the map were, and it seemed like he wanted to tell them where to find them, but it was up to the Shepherd to complete his tasks on his own merit. Whatever the case, they needed to rest before heading out on the next chapter of their journey. The excitement of Rose forming a pact wth Dezel after so many years of being with him and the exhaustion that came with Diving for the first time, as well as Mikleo and Edna fighting off hellions by themselves in a cesspool of malevolence, had drained them all of their energy. Despite all this, Sorey was raring to go explore more.

“Uh, no? Sorey, you’re travelling with girls, and girls need ‘girl time’,” Rose scolded. “We can’t just go out without making sure everything is in order.”

Edna and Lailah agreed, but Alisha knew exactly what she meant. The four of them headed off somewhere to have their so-called “girl time”, leaving Sorey and the seraphim of water and wind to keep him company.

“So, Dezel, how does it feel to be joining us?” the young Shepherd asked in an effort to make small talk.

“Not particularly ecstatic,” Dezel growled back. “You say you’re working to free seraphim, but what did you just force me to do with Rose?”

“It’s not like you’re a slave, though. Besides, you stayed with her for twelve years of your own free will.”

“I think you mean twelve years a slave. I knew they would never let me go considering that I was being hunted when Rose found me.” Dezel tipped his hat down. “She knew that I was blind from the minute she saw me, and she didn’t want that to be the reason I got caught. In many ways, it was a blessing, but…maybe it was some cursed fate.”

Mikleo leaned into Sorey. He was the brooding type. The cryptic brooding type. The type that thought things were hopeless from the get-go. Suddenly, Dezel asked them to follow him outside. His voice was unusually kind and soft.

When Sorey and the seraphim emerged from Tintagel Ruins, they found the stars twinkling ever brightly above them. They dotted the sky like diamonds, and if they were silent enough, ignoring the sound of the wind rustling the leaves of the giant trees in Volgran Forest and the crickets hiding in the bushes, they could hear the gentle tinkling sounds they made.

“What I’m about to tell you, you cannot tell Rose under any circumstance,” Dezel threatened. “If you do, I will not hesitate to kill you.”

Sorey’s expression hardened because Dezel would keep his word. He waited for him to explain the meaning of this.

“I’m a cursed seraph. My domain propagates hellions, and I don’t know why. That was why the Rolance army hunted me that day. Cursed seraphim are golden gooses of power because they were the subjects for their most recent experiments. IPD seraphim…”

Dezel clenched his teeth.

“IPD seraphim are unaffected by the Viruses that plague Eolia’s domain and Tilia’s domain, but we’re vulnerable to a different kind of threat. Infel Phira, where we get our power, was damaged long ago, and that led to a flood of negative emotions into it. Those negative emotions can lead to something called IPD disease.”

Mikleo’s eyes widened. “That’s why you were acting like that when Oysh was talking about it,” he realized.

Dezel grunted. “It has two forms: positive and negative. The negative symptoms aren’t too terrible. A high fever and loss of consciousness, and Rolance figured out that it means that a seraph is gaining new powers. They hold those in reserve, waiting for them to wake up so they can brainwash them. But the positive form is exponentially deadlier.”

Dezel forced himself to speak again.

“If an IPD seraph is infected with the positive form of the disease, they lose conscious control of their actions and go on a rampage. They destroy everything in sight until they eventually kill themselves in the process. Rolance learned how they can incite it—if they threaten the seraph enough and their emotions reach the tipping point, they can turn our kind into short-term killing machines. They’ve been planning to use us to take over Hyland. Under Eolia and Tilia, this isn’t bad; but IPD disease is highly infectious. IPD seraphim within a fifty-meter radius can become infected.”

Sorey wanted to hold the now trembling wind seraph, to tell him that everything would be okay if he stayed with them. Rolance was no different from Hyland in torturing the seraphim to seize their power.

“That’s why when Rose found me and let me live with them for so many years, I could think of nothing but death. Sorey, if I become infected, promise me that you’ll finish me off before Rose can see me turn into a monster. I was ready to die back then when I had no connections. Even before our Dive, I believed that if Rose wasn’t allowed to see what was in my heart, then she wouldn’t be sad if that was my fate. But now we’ve gone too far…she can’t know about any of this.”

Sorey and Mikleo were somewhat confused. Having lived together for so long, they thought that Rose would know about something as serious as that. In truth, the IPD disease and its effects had been kept a secret from everyone outside of the priests’ sect and the Rolance army. If the people within the empire knew about the experiments, they would riot and kill every seraph they could find in fear of them becoming infected.

The three of them fell silent as the information sank in, and near the entrance leading into the underground ruin, Lailah stifled her weeps. Things were the same in Hyland and Rolance, and Dezel had reasons for his behavior. It would be another secret she had to keep from Alisha, and she knew for a fact that Rose could never know or hope to understand why he was the way he was. She quietly snuck back into the ruins, swallowing her sorrow and pretending to be as happy as ever.

\---------------------------------------

The next morning, the Shepherd and his friends left the ruins after Rose ordered Eguille, the Ayn twins, and Rosh to search for a new hideout. She explained what she had found deeper within, and even they agreed that they couldn’t stay in a place that actively tortured seraphim. Oysh offered to stay there in case people got lost in Volgran Forest, and while Rose was against it, Alisha commented that it would be a strategic position should they need to rest there again.

“But what about the malevolence?” Rose countered.

“I’ll keep my head about myself,” Oysh promised. “As long as I stay near the front of the ruins, the malevolence shouldn’t have a terrible effect on me.”

Rose reluctantly allowed Oysh to do that, but when she turned to Sorey, she noticed that he didn’t seem like his usual cheerful self. Before she could ask him, Mikleo pulled him to the side. They whispered between themselves for a bit and then Sorey smacked his cheeks.

“How interesting,” Edna sighed. She didn’t say anything else about it. Alisha noticed that Lailah seemed off as well, but the little earth seraph deflected her questions simply by saying, “If you really want to know, do the Normincarena.”

Now they were headed to Pendrago. They headed through Volgran Forest past a huge tree stump towards the outside of a giant wall that sectioned a city away from the rest of the greenery. At first, Sorey was baffled that they were already at their destination, but Rose and Alisha just laughed at him. If things were that simple, they would have gone straight there overnight. This city was the city of great artisans called Lastonbell. It was made famous by the giant mechanized belfry that stood in the center of the city. When Sorey and Mikleo heard that, they instantly felt better and begged their friends to let them explore while they were passing through.

“Are you both that stupid?” Edna asked. “With seraphim out, it’s kind of a problem to gallivant around. Just because Lailah, Meebo, and I are different types of seraphim than what they have doesn’t mean that they won’t try to capture us. They might even forma truce and trade us back to Hyland.”

“But…but this is one of the coolest places ever!” Sorey whined. “Just think of all things we could learn about the history of this place! I can’t just leave without checking everything out!”

“How unbecoming of a Shepherd,” Dezel muttered.

Alisha suddenly ordered the seraphim to go inside their respective humans. Rolance soldiers were checking caravans for seraphim smugglers. Everyone did as they were told except Dezel.

“Dezel,” Sorey quietly said. “You have to. If you’re worried that Rose is going to find out, she won’t. It’s not the same as Diving.” He gave him a comforting smile. “Trust me, and trust Rose.”

Of course, Rose was curious about what they were talking about, but she couldn’t ask. Dezel went inside of her, which was an odd sensation in itself. Then came the question of Alisha’s armor.

“Alisha, change into these clothes,” Rose hastily said. She handed her her Sparrowfeathers merchant outfit. “Always keep a spare change of clothes; never know when you’ll need a disguise.” She pushed her into some bushes just behind a tree then kept watch to make sure that Sorey didn’t try to peek…not that he had any interest in seeing Alisha in her undergarments. “I’ll come back out tonight and put the armor into a bag or something. If we run into the Ayn twins or anyone else, then we can give them the bag and hide it. For the time being, Alisha will have to wear the Sparrowfeathers uniform.”

After a few minutes, Alisha came from the bushes in a khaki jacket, sea foam green blouse, and dark-brown pants. She put her hair into pigtails. She rarely ever made an appearance outside of Hyland, so there was a good chance that the Rolance army wouldn’t recognize her in this getup.

Sorey led Rose and Alisha to the gate, where they were interrogated about where they were heading and what their business was. “We’re heading to Pendr—” Sorey started before Rose jabbed his stomach.

“Sorry, my brother here had way too much to drink last night,” Rose laughed as Sorey lurched forward in pain. “We’re here to make a delivery to Boris’ Canteen. Just a small parcel.” She pulled out a small package that she most likely made last night.

The Rolance knight inspected it, nodded, and let them through the gate. Sorey breathed a sigh of relief once he crossed the threshold, but as soon as he did, another militaryman of the Rolace army approached them. He was more decorated and had a strong build. He was slightly taller than Sorey, with a scar bisecting his right eyebrow and his hair styled in a cowlicked updo. He had stern hazel eyes.

“Damn, another check?” Rose grumbled. She walked ahead of Sorey and Alisha. “Hey, how are things? We’re just here to drop off a parcel!”

“Can you tell me where?” the man asked.

“Boris’ Canteen.”

“Well, it’s doesn’t look like you’re hiding any seraphim.” He eyed Sorey, scrutinizing him with sharp eyes. “Quite a peculiar outfit. From where do you hail?”

 _“He’s gonna get caught if he doesn’t act fast,”_ Mikleo somewhat nervously said.

“W-Who, me?” Sorey chuckled. “I-I am but a humble lord!” he continued forcedly.

 _“I come from a well-off family, hence my attire; however, I am travelling with my wife and her apprentice sister,”_ Edna fed to him.

“I had all the riches of the world, but once my eyes lay on her crimsom-red hair, I was smitten!” Sorey’s arms, with Edna’s guidance, flailed about in grandiose gestures before wrapping around Rose’s waist. Sorey turned white, knowing full well what Dezel was going to do to him for touching his human. “In my passionate throes of love, I cast aside my title, courted this merchant, and followed her. She is so kind and gracious for teaching her sister to be like her! What a gal—g-girl!”

 _“This is terrible…”_ Lailah almost cried.

 _“All of you are idiots,”_ Dezel chastised.

“A-Ah, yes! My wonderful and strong fiancé!” Rose joined after Dezel began directing her what to say despite professing he’d rather die. “He protects us from bandits on the roads, and he ensures my sister is always safe. My darling sister, don’t you agree?”

“I must agree!” Alisha embarrassedly joined in. “Had he not gone with us, we would have surely died!”

 _“This is insufferable,”_ Mikleo sighed. He noticed that Edna had a mischievous smile on her lips. _“Edna, what are you doing?”_

Using slightly more of her power to control Sorey’s body like a marionette, she forced him to pull Rose close. Alisha’s jade eyes grew wide as Rose’s shut tightly. Sorey’s heart stopped. He wasn’t prepared for the ultimate betrayal, and he knew Dezel couldn’t help him if they wanted to be off the hook.

“You two,” the man sternly said just before Sorey and Rose kissed. “You’re a genuine couple. I hope that one day, I too, may find love in such an adventurous woman.” With that, the man left to inspect the other merchants entering the city of Lastonbell. “Best wishes, my lord!” he called out.

Sorey pushed Rose and Alisha to the nearest inn just inside the city gate. Once they checked in, all of the seraphim were front and center while their humans breathed sighs of relief. Of everyone, Mikleo and Dezel were the only ones irritated with the outcome of their spontaneous plan.

“That’s sexual harassment,” Dezel growled. “You can’t just force Rose to kiss some guy she doesn’t know!”

“And Sorey wasn’t comfortable with it, either!” Mikleo hissed.

Lailah and Alisha sneered as they held each other’s hands. They hadn’t been victim to Edna’s tricks, but Lailah did notice that the man was staring intensely at her the whole time. Aside from the fun everyone was having, she felt somewhat jealous of that man.

“Alisha,” Lailah whispered. The princess turned to her with an innocent smile only to find the fire seraph glaring at her. “Remember that you’re mine, and I’m yours, and no one can pull us apart.”

“W-Where did this come from?” Alisha shrieked.

“And furthermore, Edna, could you at least give me a warning before you make Sorey say all that stupid jargon!?” Mikleo miffed.

Edna opened her umbrella, turning on her heel and promptly ignoring the water seraph. While Sorey urged everyone to settle down, Dezel checked on Rose. She didn’t seem particularly bothered by the episode, but he couldn’t just leave her be. He was about to rest his hand on her shoulder when she turned to him as if on cue and demanded:

“I want to Dive again!”

“S-Sorey, me too. I want you to Dive into me again,” Mikleo requested.

Alisha and Lailah were somewhat surprised that they wanted to Dive, but perhaps it was because Edna had made them all uncomfortable that they were wanting that alone time to figure things out. They thought it was unapologetically adorable.

“I guess we haven’t Dived in a while,” Sorey sheepishly said.

“B-But we don’t have a Proxy Seraph,” Dezel warned. He was glad that was the case; he wasn’t ready for Rose to wander around inside of him again.

Rose took his hands. “It’ll be different. I think you can trust me enough to go by myself. If anything bad happens…Lailah, set us on fire!”

Lailah and Dezel both panicked, but Sorey and Mikleo thought it would be a good idea. A strong kick was needed to pull Rose out, and Alisha and Lailah and Edna understood the importance of monitoring Dives. Lailah hesitantly agreed. Sorey and Rose Armatized with their respective seraphim, focusing on their Divine Artifacts and falling into their deep sleep. As soon as they had initiated their Dives, a knock came at the door.

“Please, let me in,” a young woman’s voice ordered. “I know you’re Diving in there. I sensed it.”

Alisha pulled Lailah inside of her while Edna hid in the corner next to the door. After she opened her umbrella and sat down, the princess opened the door. Standing in front of her was a woman with long golden hair, piercing indigo eyes, and an angelic outfit similar to Dezel’s in style.

“Please, let me come in. I’m an IPD seraph named Cloche, but you must refer to me at Lady Cloche or the Holy Maiden,” she demanded. “Quickly, before they find me.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think I've decided to mix in the Reyvateils from the Ar Tonelico series as well besides the Origins. I mean, Lastonbell....Cloche, the 33rd Holy Maiden of the Grand Bell...so many bells.


	30. Phase 2:  Tales of Destiny

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cosmosphere Level 4: Mikleo  
>  _Ma num ra chs pic wasara mea,_  
>  _en fwal syec mea._  
>  _Was yea ra chs mea yor_  
>  _en fwal en chs hymme._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don't know much of anything about Tales of Destiny, but I did read up on a specific part that is going to be applied to the fic. I'm sorry that I didn't do it justice. Wish Bandai gave Mikleo Jude's outfit as DLC. That would have been easier to write. That said, my perception of Leon comes from Tales of the Rays.

Sorey woke up at the Stonehenge as usual, and in no time Gaine was there ready to belittle him. It wasn’t happy to see him, but this time it seemed more like the Normin was annoyed by something other than his presence. When the Shepherd asked it what was wrong, it flashed an angry look at him.

“I’m annoyed that you’ve managed to make it this far. This is the fourth level, and it’s also when the real challenges begin,” Gaine reluctantly explained. It crossed its nubby arms. “Considering how much Mikleo treasures you, I’m in charge of making sure that you don’t die while you’re still wandering around in his soul. If you end up in critical condition, I’ll have no choice but to kick you out then get to work on preserving his sanity. It’s pretty disgusting how much of you is in his entire being.”

“The way you’re talking makes it sound as if he’s gone ballistic before,” Sorey told it. “I’m confident that I can keep him under control. After all, Mikleo would never intentionally hurt me.” He made himself feel both happy and embarrassed that that was how Mikleo was.

Sorey left before Gaine could counter him. It shouted behind him to search for Mikleo and help him retrieve something called the Eye of Atamoni. The Shepherd simply waved with a smile before heading to Straylize Temple where the artifact of choice was housed. He was brimming with happiness; a ruin that he had never seen or heard of had been created in Mikleo’s soul. He had to wonder where his water seraph learned of it or if it was simply a make-believe place tailored to the story of this level.

He walked in with his sword drawn just in case he was ambushed by some sort of guardian. The Eye of Atamoni that he was told to find was something with immeasurable power. The deeper he went to find it, the more and more the temple ruins began to resemble the fabled Pendrago shrinechurch’s sept. Sorey was mystified by the level of detail in the architecture.

“Mikleo, you’ve really outdone yourself,” Sorey whispered happily. He silently wished he was there to explore it with him.

Soon, in the deep catacombs of the temple, floating in the air about him in a dark chamber, he found the Eye of Atamoni. It was enormous and seemed almost impossible to transport. No, it was impossible.

“How am I supposed to retrieve it if it’s this big?” Sorey hopelessly asked.

“Perhaps I can help,” a little voice said from behind a boulder in the chamber. A blue Normin stepped out into the open underneath the faint blue glow of the Eye of Atamoni. “My name is Invalada.”

“I’m Sorey, Mikleo’s partner,” the Shepherd introduced. “How can you move this thing?”

“I can use Song Magic to shrink it, but it will take some time, and he will be here soon.”

“Who?”

Invalada trembled. “He has been guarding this place to make sure no one stole the Eye of Atamoni. He heard about a man that looked like a general coming to take it away.”

“But to do that, he would need Song Magic, right? The Eye if too big to just carry.”

“Yes, but I’m not very strong by myself. If I get captured, then I will do my captor’s bidding.”

Sorey scratched his head. Invalada sounded strong, but in reality, it was weak and vulnerable. Regardless, he had to obtain the Eye of Atamoni. He politely asked the Normin to shrink it to the size of his palm, and Invalada began its melodious chant.

As he listened to its song, he noticed the air grow frigid. “Ice Reaver!” Mikleo’s voice echoed. Two slabs of ice protruded from the cobblestone ground beneath Sorey, crushing him with titanic force. He sustained some damage, and he began to fear that Gaine would be right about him dying.

But the Mikleo of this world was not his Mikleo. The Mikleo of this world looked cold. His hair didn’t swirl to the left but hung over his right eye. He wore a dark blue shirt adorned with gold and a pink cape, his white pants extending down his legs and over his ebony shoes. He wielded an ornate sword and needle-like dagger. A single silver teardrop earring hung from his left ear.

“Mikleo?” Sorey coughed. He held his stomach, but everything in his body felt like it had gone through a meat grinder. “What are you doing?”

“Mikleo? I don’t recall meeting anyone named Mikleo,” the water seraph growled. “My name is Leon Magnus, Swordian Master of Chatlier. I’m here to dispose of anyone who would try to steal the Eye of Atamoni.” He held the sword to Sorey’s neck. “Any last words, fiend?”

Sorey knew that everything was simply an exaggeration of what was supposed to be Mikleo’s feelings, but to think that a persona would want to outright murder him. He curled up in apparent fear of him slitting his throat until Leon pulled his sword from his neck. He dragged him out of the temple and to isolated cage cells. He sat Sorey in front of one of them then materialized an electric tiara from his pocket.

“M-Mikleo…” Sorey truthfully whimpered. Each second passed with an augmentation of his astonishment and trepidation.

“This will be your collar for now. You may be of use to me, so I will spare your life. If you attempt to kill me, I will retaliate.”

Leon placed the electric tiara on chestnut head, and with a snap of his fingers, he gave him a warning shock. Sorey’s head pounded, and for once in all the time he had gone into Mikleo’s soul space, he was genuinely terrified that this Mikleo would kill him.

While Sorey trailed behind Leon like an obedient slave, Gaine walked with him. It looked amused staring at the electric tiara. The high and mighty Shepherd was now nothing more than a whipped dog, yet if things were to remain this way, Sorey would waste away in reality. The Armartization that allowed Dives to happen wouldn’t keep him alive.Mikleo resonated with his soul, and if that soul disappeared into the maw of death, they would separate. Sorey’s soul would scar him, and once the depression and horror set in, Mikleo would fall prey to the malevolence and become a dragon, slowly rotting away until his sanity was eaten.

“Mik—Leon, where are you taking me?” Sorey asked him nervously.

“I must make you suitable for combat. It will cost about 5000 gald per piece of equipment, but your stats will be bolstered by 100 points,” Leon said. He pulled out a small coin purse and what looked like to be character sheets detailing stat bonuses and detriments of the available equipment lying around the temple.

“Combat?”

“You didn’t think you were the only marauder out there trying to steal the Eye of Atanomi, did you?”

Gaine snickered as Sorey bowed his head. He wasn’t downtrodden like it thought but merely analyzing the situation. What would be the analogy to all of this? Or perhaps this was simply a stratagem that Mikleo had thought about some time ago and was practicing it here? He couldn’t ask, not when he was so focused on preparing him to protect the Eye of Atanomi alongside him.

Leon brought Sorey to a blacksmith near the temple. He bought him a chestplate and a dull sword, which seemed odd since the goal was to make him suitable for battle. These wares were too old and flimsy to serve any purpose. Suddenly, Invalada came racing from the temple. It was distraught and subsequently terrified to tell Leon why it had run so fast to find him.

“L-Leon, someone’s stolen the Eye of Atanomi!” it cried.

“What?!” the water seraph snapped.

“A big guy wearing red and silver armor came in, saying that he would use it to restore the floating continents! We’ve got to stop him before he destroys the world!”

Sorey’s heart sank when Leon didn’t react to the threat. He was afraid that he was overconfident in his ability to fight the thief; if Leon lost the battle against him, they would fall into the darkness and die slowly and painfully. He grabbed his shoulder, spinning him around and steadying him.

“Mikleo, we have to stop him together! You can’t fight him by yourself!” Sorey told him. Leon snapped his fingers. The electric tiara flickered before sending a current through him. Sorey fell to the ground while holding his head. “Mikleo, listen to me!”

“I don’t take orders from my prisoner,” Leon snarled. “Invalada, take me to the temple. I will deal with the intruder myself.”

The little Normin shuffled nervously. The thief had escaped into the tunnels that served as an underground hideout from the temple. Leon didn’t hesitate to head there immediately, bringing Sorey along with him despite not being properly equipped.

The underground tunnels and caverns were chilly and echoed, and water dripped from the ceilings. It seemed that they were under a large lake, and if the ceiling gave way, the place would flood in no time. There was an old mining elevator near the back of the caverns.

“Mikleo, wait,” Sorey urged Leon. “Can’t you see this is a trap?”

“I will defeat the thief and return the Eye of Atamoni to where it should be,” Leon said.

Gaine and Invalada could sense there was something wrong. The persona wasn’t listening to Sorey, and they had little influence on what it did. When they stared down toward the back of the cavern where the thief was preparing to board the elevator, they were struck with dread.

Leon pointed his sword at the thief. “Return the Eye of Atamoni!” he demanded.

The thief turned around to reveal the man that had interrogated the Shepherd and his friends at the gate just after they entered Lastonbell. His chocolate hair was in the same cowlicked mohawk and he still wore Rolance’s colors. Sorey didn’t understand—why was this man being viewed as a threat? Was it because Mikleo had gotten jealous after Rose and Sorey pretended to be married?

Leon pushed Sorey ahead of him, ordering him to attack. When Sorey refused, he used the electric tiara on him. A set of negative numbers appeared in front of the abused Shepherd as if the soul space was counting his health points. It was counting his health points, and if it reached zero, he would die.

“Attack,” Leon mumbled. He dashed forward, swatting the Rolance general and negating a set amount of his health points.

“Hidden Arte: Tornado Drive!” the general yelled. Both Sorey and Leon took damage, but the pain radiating through the former’s body felt too real for just a Dive.

Again, Leon ordered Sorey to attack the captain, and again he refused. The shocks followed every nerve in his body. One more and that would be the end of him. Leon prepared to use his Mystic Arte: Cleansing Inferno, and as he charged power, Invalada had to do something. Sorey jumped in front of the general just before Leon attacked, and the Normin used its power to negate some of the damage. Sorey’s health point counter dropped down to only one point, and now that he was so weak, Leon had a dilemma. He didn’t want to kill him, but insubordination was not allowed.

“Mikleo, you’ve got to stop…” the brunet panted and wheezed. “Killing this man won’t do anything. Let him talk; there has to be a reason that he stole the Eye of Atamoni.”

Gaine couldn’t believe its eyes. It didn’t think Sorey would do something so drastic. It watched the scene play out.

Leon lowered his sword. “Speak,” he commanded the thief.

“My people need this power. Something evil is happening in my village,” the general stated. “I had heard that the Eye of Atamoni could vanquish the evil. It was out in the open, so I believed that I could simply take it.”

“See? There was a reason behind all of this,” Sorey coughed.

“Do you think that excuses his crime?” Leon growled.

“It doesn’t, but he doesn’t deserve death. Mikleo, you’re kinder than that. It’s not like you to immediately attack people without listening to them, at least I didn’t think it was like you.” Sorey turned to the general with the little energy he had. “Sir, why don’t you and Mikleo go together to vanquish the evil? After all, both of you want to protect the people and the world.”

Leon sheathed his sword. “That won’t be necessary,” he softly said after some thought. “General, I will allow—”

There was a rumbling deep in the cavern.

“This place is going to give!” Gaine warned. “We need to get out of here or we’re all goners!”

The general helped Sorey to the elevator with Invalada and Gaine on his back. Leon, however, stayed behind. “Mikleo, come on, the ceiling is going to cave in!” Sorey begged him. Leon shook his head. “Come on!”

“If the persona of this world dies, the real Mikleo will collapse,” Invalada said. “Please, Leon, you have to come with us!”

“Are you trying to get yourself killed?!” Gaine snapped.

“There’s no reason to die!” the general told him.

“All of this would have been avoided if I had been kinder. And that elevator can only hold so much. It would be best to just leave me here,” Leon said. “Besides, who’s going to operate the elevator for you to escape?”

Using what energy he had left in him, Sorey jumped off the elevator. He grabbed his seraph’s wrist and pulled him to the elevator, but Leon still refused to go. He couldn’t shock him to leave him when he was so close to death.

“S-Sorey, why are you trying to save me?” Leon asked. “I’ve hurt you and used you as a party member to attempt to unjustly kill someone.”

“Because the real Mikleo is important to me, and you’re a part of him. If you die, so does a part of him. I love every part of him, even the dark sides that try to do good. I won’t let you die; I promised this!”

Sorey punched the button and scrambled onto the elevator at the moment that water began to fill the cavern. In a matter of minutes, they were on the surface near the Stonehenge, the elevator shaft soon after turning into a geyser. The shining light that signified the Paradigm Shift was blinding, and while Invalada had granted its ability to Leon, Leon wasn’t sure if he was ready to move on.

“Trust me, you are. I want to help you grow. I’ll always be with you,” Sorey reassured. He held out his hand.

Leon couldn’t help but tear up. He held the Shepherd’s hands before stepping into the light. He went onto the next level, and the light faded away. When Sorey was alone, Gaine approached him.

“This is only the fourth level. Remember that. Things will get harder and nastier from here. I won’t tell you to always listen to what he says, anad I won’t tell you to always listen to your gut. You have to find a balance, so you don’t make the world collapse on itself in a paradox,” it said.

“I don’t intend to let that happen,” Sorey promised. He returned to reality after holding his chest for a little while.

\---------------------------------

Sorey woke up to find Mikleo staring at him with utmost concern. The brunet looked feverish; what had happened inside of Mikleo’s soul had nearly killed him, and he could barely push himself up. He was just as exhausted in reality as he had been in the Dive.

“Are you okay?” he gently asked.

“I’m fine, but what about you?” Mikleo asked him as he made a block of ice to put on his forehead. “It’s worse than the last time.”

“I’m fine. Just a little tired.”

Sorey grinned happily at him. Mikleo reluctantly took his word, and when he looked over at Rose, who was still Armatized with Dezel, he wished that he was strong like the wind seraph so he could protect his beloved Shepherd.

Then he glanced up at the young woman sitting with Lailah and Edna. She had golden blonde hair and intense indigo eyes. Her outfit looked angelic, but she seemed exhausted.

“Mikleo’s awake!” Lailah smiled. She clapped her hands together. Now they only had to wait for Rose and Dezel.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter starts the NaNoWriMo chapters. So far I've written 26,760 words not including any edits!


	31. Phase 2:  The Caged Bird

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cosmosphere Level 2: Dezel
> 
> _ENTER root.mea_  
>  _SET G.W.C. 3600Hmag/s_   
> _0x01_  
>  _SET StartF 19021Hz_  
>  _0x01_  
>  _COM:_  
>  _Ma num ra flip 0x0011000011_   
> _yor enter COSMOSPHERE.mea/._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter marks the beginning of the NaNoWriMo chapters! It's based on Finnel's cosmosphere. Also the semester is over and I can finally update!

_“Dezel, it’ll be okay. You won’t hurt me, and I’ll do everything I can to make sure you’re safe!”_ Rose told her seraph.

_“I’m not worried about being safe. You’re going into the second level. I…I can’t show you,”_ Dezel persisted, recoiling from her delicate and caring touch. The assassin embraced him as they fell to their knees. Rose had learned that to get through his prickly shell, she had to reassure him that she would be okay. She wouldn’t change her mind about him, and she meant it when she said she would keep him safe. _“Rose, why are you like this?”_

_“Because I don’t want you to get hurt like Sorey and Mikleo did,”_ Rose beamed. _“Come on, let’s get this over with and then I can get out of your hair like you want me to.”_

Rose let Dezel stand up, and after squeezing his hands, she touched his chest.

\-------------------------------------

Dezel’s second level of his soul space was markedly different. It was nowhere close to resembling Ladylake or any of the cities and villages that they had visited during their travels. It was dark and cold, and Rose couldn’t help but attribute the darkness to Dezel’s blindness, the coldness to his reluctance to let her close to him. He was an enigma.

“He’s really got some deep, personal stuff,” the red-haired assassin sighed. “But I won’t get anywhere just standing around.” She smacked her face, ready to get to business.

“Oh, you’re back!” Windur chirped. “I was wondering when you would be here again. I’m surprised that the Master didn’t scare you away.”

“I’ve lived with Dezel for a long time. He can’t really scare me anymore. He can make me angry, but he can’t scare me. Anyway, what’s up with the dreary scenery? I thought I had fixed him in the last level. I brought him the gift of light.”

Windur smirked. “The levels can either operate independent of each other or in conjunction. Usually the first three levels are all independent because you haven’t gone deep enough to know his true nature.”

“Of course,” Rose sighed. “Well, I’d better hurry up and get to the lower levels so that way I can really help him.”

Windur waggled its nub. “That’s where you’re wrong, and you’ll die. It depends on Dezel’s thinking. You can’t rush him, you know.”

Rose found herself in a predicament, but she had to concede because Dezel was his own person. She was only there to help him through all these internal conflicts. She listened to Windur’s advice before leaving the Stonehenge. Unlike the first level, which had several sites of interest, this level only had two excluding the entry point. There was a large cage in one corner and shackles in another. From where she was, she spotted the curled-up form of her seraph in the cage. She headed to the cage.

“Dezel?” she hesitated. “What are you doing in there?”

“Making sure he doesn’t come after me,” the wind seraph curtly said.

“Who?”

“The battle-hungry fighter.”

“That doesn’t really tell me anything.”

“Just leave me alone. I’m tired of constantly dying.”

Rose’s heart skipped. Someone had been killing Dezel in his soul space? There wasn’t much that she could do with her level of understanding. She left the cage and went to where the shackles were. Here she found a man that wore the same clothes as Dezel, but he had kind eyes and long hair tied in a ponytail. He looked somewhat older than him.

“Oh, hello, who are you?” the man asked.

“The name’s Rose. I’m Dezel’s partner,” the assassin introduced herself.

“Partner? Ha-ha, that’s funny. I’m Dezel’s partner. His lifelong partner. The partner that died for him, and I’ve been exacting my revenge.” The man grinned at her and pulled out a pair of chainlink pendulums. “Dezel doesn’t deserve to have any other partners if he can’t even protect one. It’s alright, girl, I’ll save you the trouble of dying at his hands!”

The man flung his pendulums at her while she was still confused, but in the nick of time, Dezel took the lethal blows. He fired an arrow of wind magic at the man before crumbling at Rose’s side.

“D-Dezel!” Rose cried out.

“I’m terrible, but I won’t let you die,” he coughed. “The Paradigm Shift is open. Get me there before it’s too late.”

Rose, beyond lost, did as she was told. Windur was there shaking its head. She helped Dezel to the edge of the light. “Dezel, don’t you think this was too fast?” she asked him doubtfully.

“No. This is what the rest of my soul is like. If you want to keep going, then you’ll have to get used to this.”

“But this makes no—”

Before she could finish her sentence, he passed through the light of the Paradigm Shift.

\------------------------------------------

Dezel and Rose woke up side by side, but the latter was unsatisfied with the Dive. She wanted to ask him what happened, but Dezel pretended as if it went over well. She had gotten to Dive again, and they just happened to complete the level quickly. She, however, was adamant about understanding why the Dive had been so underwhelming and confusing. Perhaps Diving again would support her hypothesis that he did it on purpose.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Word count: 885
> 
> Don't forget to comment! My inbox has been dry for months! Also this chapter is purposely short.


	32. Phase 2:  The Platinum Knights

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After the Dive, the Zestiria crew meet Cloche and a certain captain of the Platinum Knights.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY HOLIDAYS!
> 
> I've just finished playing Ar Tonelico 2, so I can write more now! Am I going to upload more quickly? Probably not. Also, Cloche is from Ar Tonelico 2 and is only called a seraph to reflect the Zestiria elements.

Now that everyone was awake and cognizant of Cloche’s presence, the blonde seraph felt she could finally speak. Lailah and Alisha had spoken to her while Sorey and Rose conducted their Dives. Edna paid attention, but she didn’t bother getting too involved yet. She would have advised Lailah not to get involved either. They didn’t know the situation in Rolance, and for a seraph to be walking around in broad daylight among greedy humans—it seemed almost like a trap. Nevertheless, Alisha didn’t want to abandon a soul in need. She had seemed worried enough about getting caught. To Edna, her style of dress was attention-grabbing, making her more suspicious and she would have to chastise Alisha later for endangering them.

“What are you glaring at?” Cloche irritably asked Edna.

“A potential spy,” the earth seraph retorted. “How does a seraph like you walk freely? Especially when there are Rolance knights right outside our door?”

“Edna, be kind,” Alisha scolded.

“I’m waiting for an explanation.”

Mikleo shifted so that he was better hidden by Sorey while Dezel slowly tugged on Rose’s sleeve with apprehension. Lailah wasn’t so afraid or distrustful. She didn’t sense anything evil coming from the seraph, and she couldn’t imagine that a seraph would work against them besides Symonne.

Cloche was reluctant at first because she was among unfamiliar people. She opened her mouth to speak, but Dezel cut her off to say:

“She’s an IPD.”

Rose’s eyes widened. She understood that for Cloche to be an IPD, she had been taken to Pendrago. She had to have escaped, and the only people that could have helped her would have been the Sparrowfeathers. Cloche confirmed this then told them that they bade her farewell in the Meadow of Triumph to the west of Lastonbell. She was told to find a man named Mayvin.

“I’m the Holy Maiden of the Grand Bell of Lastonbell; this is my home,” Cloche said humbly yet tearfully. “Most of the people remember me, but still, there’s reluctance in helping me hide from the Rolance soldiers. They turn a blind eye to me, but if a soldier tries to abduct me, they help me get away.” Being, for the most part, neglected by her people made her heart sank. “I had seen this young man and you ladies come into the inn after that mediocre improvised skit. For some reason, there was a distinct aura radiating from you three, and lo and behold, you three are harboring seraphim within you.”

“Let’s not say that too loud,” Sorey nervously said. He stood up from the floor, walking to the window and pulling the curtains shut then moving to the door and locking it. “My name is Sorey. I’m the Shepherd who is going to make sure that humans and seraphim can live in peace together. Rose and Alisha,” he pointed to the respective girls, “are my allies. They’re Squires, and they also want to end the slavery of seraphim.” Lailah, Mikleo, Edna, and Dezel all stood next to their partners as Sorey introduced them.

Cloche gave a formal greeting to them. “I used to have a partner,” she said. “He wasn’t a Shepherd, but he was a soldier that didn’t believe in turning us into killing machines. In fact, he was part of the division that contained those who had suffered from IPD disease.” Dezel got goosebumps. He threw a puff of air at Cloche, who quickly lost her calm demeanor. “You brute! How dare you—”

“Don’t say another word,” he snarled.

“What is wrong with you?”

Rose looked up at the wind seraph. Alisha noticed that Lailah seemed perturbed. Sorey was worried about Dezel even though he wasn’t connected to him. He felt sorry for Rose, who wanted to know more about him and his past.

“There’s no point in hiding it now,” Edna told him. “You know what happened in Ladylake, so it’s only fair that you tell us what they do in Pendrago.”

“I refuse. I don’t want to talk about it, and I don’t want to hear about it.”

Cloche adverted her eyes. “I understand it’s a sensitive topic for someone who was rescued,” she gently said.

“Shut up,” Dezel snapped.

“O-Okay, okay, enough talk about that!” Alisha interrupted. She clapped her hands together. “Let’s survey the area so we have an escape route for Cloche. We should also make sure we don’t leave any clues to our passing through here behind.”

Lailah agreed, but Sorey was still bothered by what Cloche had said. Nevertheless, he commanded Mikleo and Edna to take refuge inside of him. Alisha was asked to stay with Cloche in the inn, and while the princess was opposed to the idea, she had an inkling that he wanted to talk with Rose alone. It was the contrary.

Sorey and Rose left the inn together. The first stopped under the giant belfry, which Mikleo gave a textbook definition about. Next was the park hill that overlooked a field of radishbells, which Dezel explained were rather poisonous. It was there that they saw a familiar old face.

“Mayvin?” Rose uttered. The old man turned around. “It really is you!”

“How are you, lass?” Mayvin joyfully greeted. “And Sorey, I’m surprised you’re still with her. How is Lady Alisha? Where is she?”

Sorey walked up close to him then spoke with a quiet voice. “She’s at the inn with a runaway who was looking for you. She’s an IPD seraph, and she said the Sparrowfeathers told her to find you.”

Mayvin let out a hearty laugh. “I always knew you were never one for the wiles of women! Well, it was nice meeting up with you. I’m about to head on to my next destination. I’ll go grab some grub and be on my way. Take care of yourselves!”

It was a short meeting in passing, but Rose and Sorey trusted that Mayvin would be able to get Cloche out of Lastonbell and take her somewhere far away. They left the park and headed to the Lastonbell sanctuary that was a few paces down the street from the inn. Sorey was ready to walk in when a priest and a soldier exited the sanctuary.

 _“We should tail them,”_ Mikleo said in Sorey’s mind.

Sorey let them walk for a little bit as he pretended to be sightseeing around the sanctuary. Rose followed behind him, and soon they came to what seemed to be a tavern. They were talking about the seraphim in Pendrago and about the IPD disease that struck fear in Dezel. The number of outbreaks had increased exponentially according to the priest, and the strength of the diseased seraphim had increased one-hundred-fold according to the soldier. The soldier then mentioned having to euthanize a few that had become far stronger than beyond their control.

“We have to get to Pendrago as soon as possible,” Sorey said.

“Dezel, I know you don’t want to go, but we can’t let this continue,” Rose softly said with the hope that her seraph would understand.

Her chest tightened, an indication that he was trying not to be scared. _“We should Dive again.”_ It was a strange abrupt request, and Rose was bewildered that he wanted to Dive.

Sorey and Rose returned to the sanctuary, and after a few minutes, Alisha had joined them. She handed Sorey a note from Cloche that thanked him for finding Mayvin—even if it had been coincidence. He was relieved that they were able to leave without a problem, and he was grateful that the inn was so close to the gate into the city. With the three of them together, they walked into the sanctuary.

Sorey and Alisha were half-expecting to see seraph corpses inside, but it turned out to be a regular place of worship albeit it dusty and stagnant. The sanctuary hadn’t been used in some years, presumably when the enslavement began.

 _“What was the point in coming here?”_ Edna grumbled.

“We just saw a priest and knights leave this place, so we thought there might have been something here,” Rose explained. “Guess it was just a quiet meeting place.”

 _“You don’t think the Rolance army is suspicious of us?”_ Lailah worried.

“That’s a possibility,” Alisha said. “It might have been a trap.”

The door slammed open behind them, and the general that had stopped them stood there with a stern look. Sorey, Rose, and Alisha froze in their tracks when they saw his sword was drawn. Sorey then slowly reached for his sword, but the general thrust his sword forward at him, stopping just before he could have injured him.

“Don’t make another move,” the general cautioned. “I’d rather not have to spill any blood today, in a holy place no less. I have a few questions for you lot. Any attempt to escape will be met with the strength of the Rolance army.”

Sorey lowered his hand. He asked for the general’s name.

“My name? Depending on how this interrogation goes, you won’t need to know it for long. My name is Sergei Strelka, Captain of the Platinum Knights of the Rolance Army.” He didn’t put down his sword, and the glare in his eyes were as intense as when he first entered. Sorey’s heart was beating faster, a repercussion of keeping Mikleo and Edna inside of him.

“What does the Rolance army want with a bunch of merchants?” Rose cautiously asked.

“We received two reports from you—one involving your drunk brother and one of a newlywed couple. What would a brother and sister be doing as a married couple? And about Boris’ Canteen—there is no such place in this city. We also received a report from the innkeeper of several other voices in your room.”

Alisha and Rose turned pale while Sorey willed Mikleo and Edna to calm down. He was still stuck in position with Sergei’s sword at his throat. He worried about Cloche and Mayvin.

“You’re suspected of smuggling seraphim through Lastonbell, and you will be arrested on those charges,” Sergei told them.

“Wait!” Sorey begged him. “Please, listen to us.” He put his hands up in surrender, but his emerald eyes pleaded that the general lend an ear to them. “It’s true; that’s what we’re doing, but we have a reason.”

“A lot of people have plenty of reasons to commit their crimes. What makes you different?”

Sorey coaxed Mikleo and Edna to come out, and he asked that Rose and Alisha did the same. Dezel protested for fear that Sergei would capture him. All of the seraphim nonetheless were forced to come out. The Shepherd, knowing that what he was doing was risky, got on his hands and knees.

“Sergei, we’re begging you to let us go,” he fervently begged. “We’re on a mission. We want to save the seraphim from the suffering they’ve endured. We want a world where humans and seraphim live in peace. I want to see seraphim enjoying life with humans.”

Mikleo placed a hand on his human’s back. Lailah and Alisa hugged each other, and Rose held Dezel’s trembling hand. Sergei appeared to soften, but he was conflicted between abiding by his duty as a Rolance captain and showing compassion to the Shepherd. He had heard the legend of the Shepherd long ago when he was a child. He never imagined he would see the day that he would run into one; even still, he had a duty to uphold no matter how horrible it was.

Edna opened her umbrella. “Sorey, stand up,” she ordered him.

The brunet did as he was told only to find that Sergei had pulled his sword away from Sorey’s head. The general asked Sorey to meet him outside alone. He decided that he would wager with him. If Sorey could defeat Sergei in a one-on-one duel, then he would let them go. If Sergei won, they would be arrested and taken to Pendrago for punishment.

Outside the sanctuary doors in the small grassy terrace, Sergei gave him those conditions. He wasn’t going to pull his punches, and he was going to fight him as if to kill him. Sorey was anxious what with everything on the line. He drew his sword. Could he really kill a man that seemed hesitant to even fight?

“Sergei, we don’t have to do this,” Sorey told him. “I don’t want to kill someone because they’re only doing what they’re supposed to.”

The captain gritted his teeth. “Cowardly Shepherd! Your seraphim lives are at stake, and yet you hesitate to defend them!” he shouted at him. “It’s true that I’m doing what I was told to do, but I want to see with my own eyes if you have what it takes to protect them! Hold up your sword, Shepherd, and fight like you wish to kill me!”

Sergei charged towards Sorey with his sword ready to pierce his heart. For a bulky man, he was fast, and the strength within him was far beyond what Sorey had imagined. There was a reason he was the captain, and if he was as cunning as Maltran and Landon, he would stand no chance against him. The Shepherd managed to get a few hits in, but it was like hitting a tree with a piece of cloth. It had no effect, trapping Sorey in one spot, leaving him vulnerable.

“Sonic Thrust!” Sergei called out. He jabbed Sorey in the abdomen with so much force that the young man flew back a couple feet from him. He was paralyzed, the blow hitting pressure points that compromised his ability to move. “Tornado Drive!”

Sergei leaped into the air with a spin, and as he landed a shockwave pushed his opponent farther back against a wall. The citizens of Lastonbell were concerned about the yelling, but they knew better than to wander into a fight involving one of Rolance’s finest.

Mikleo dashed outside where he saw Sorey backed up to a wall. “Sorey!” he panicked. “I’ll save you!”

Dezel flung a pendulum around his wrist, pulling him back inside. He warned him that if he interfered with the duel, Sorey would die. Sergei was no ordinary man. He was in an elite position.

“Heavenly Torrent!” Sorey coughed. His weak water Hidden Arte did little to stun Sergei. “Heavenly Torrent…!”

This time he missed as Sergei dashed around to his side. He used the pommel of his sword for another jab before throwing him from the wall. Before long, Sorey could no longer tell where Sergei was; the energy he was expending to remain conscious was exhausting him. His connection to Mikleo and Edna had weakened him as they sapped energy, and he was sure that if they had been allowed to fight he would already be dead. The most problematic part? The more tired he became, the more his blurred vision affected him. He couldn’t sense him either.

“Lion’s Howl!” Sergei’s voice came from behind him. It was the strongest Hidden Arte in the Platinum Knights arsenal. It propelled Sorey forward, and he thought he heard his back break. The knockback from the attack gave him whiplash, and he felt nauseous from the pain.

Mikleo and Edna fell to their knees inside of the sanctuary. Their bodies throbbed, phantom pains from Sorey’s wounds. “He’s not going to make it,” Edna wheezed. “He’s on his last legs.”

Outside, Sorey struggled to push himself up. Sergei pointed his sword at him. “If you surrender now, I will bargain with the King of Rolance to spare your life,” he reluctantly said.  
Then he noticed it. The dullness in his eyes like cataracts were clear as day. “You’re blind? I’ve been fighting a blind man?”

“Cantering Flames,” Sorey choked. He was drained, and his attack only called forth embers. “I will protect them. No matter if I can’t see, no matter if I’m beaten with an inch of my life. Earth Dragon Fang!”

Either Sorey’s luck had turned or it was a trap, the attack connected. Sergei began to bleed from his head; he was knocked out. The Shepherd fell to his knees panting. He felt weightless, and he wondered if he would last until Pendrago. He had to have lost, right?

The garbled voices of his friends sounded. Mikleo was calling out what might have been Sorey’s name. He, Lailah, and Edna were powerless to heal him for their Seraphic Artes weren’t strong enough to pull him back from the brinkof death; but Dezel went to the front. He gently touched his shoulder. Rose caught a glimpse of the seraph that she had seen within his soul. Colorless but thankful eyes. As Sorey drifted off to unconsciousness, he quietly sang for him:

_mErYArYN repoear sos yor dralee dea her/._  
_xE rre y.y. sarla lYNlYNnE herr spiritum/. _  
_yEyYA heetha/.___

__Sorey came back from the edge of unconsciousness, and he grabbed Mikleo for a tight hug. He was shaking._ _

__“Sorey, what’s wrong?” the water seraph gently asked._ _

__“I…I almost lost…” Sorey tearfully said into his chest. “I almost doomed you all to Pendrago. I just barely won.”_ _

__Mikleo patted his head while Rose crossed her arms. He didn’t lose even if by a small margin. She was happy that he was the one left awake in the end. She glanced over at Sergei, who was waking up as well. The blood had dried on his forehead, but he looked pleased._ _

__“Sorey, I concede to you,” he humbly said. “Had I known that you were blind, I would not have challenged you to a duel. It is dishonorable for a knight to take advantage of another man’s ailment. I will grant you pardon…on one condition.” Sergei knelt to him. “I, too, wish to see the seraphim free. One of my own, Croix, had helped a seraph to escape. He did what no other man was brave enough to do. Avenge his death, and make his dream come true, and I will do everything I can to stop Rolance from abusing any more seraphim.”_ _

__Alisha knelt to Sergei’s level. She exposed herself as the Princess of Hyland, and she commended his valor. “As the Princess of Hyland, I will do what I can in my country,” she vowed. Sergei blushed. He had never known a woman of bravery. Then he caught a glimpse of jealous bloodlust in Lailah’s jade eyes._ _

__The seraphim went back inside their partners before the four of them returned inside of the sanctuary where Sergei talked to them about Pendrago. It was a city with a dark history as most places were, but they had recently been plagued with an unending period of blighting rain. Sergei had his suspicions, but as far as he was concerned, they were unfounded. It had started when a well-known pope had gone missing and a Cardinal came into power. She and the Emperor had worked together to bring forth the rain, which hurt seraphim._ _

__“I’ve seen it with my own eyes,” Sergei told them. “They would leave disobedient seraphim out in the rain, watching as it burned their skin like acid. They waited for the seraphim to beg for mercy. Then they would go about their experiments.”_ _

__Rose felt Dezel’s heart race again. Cloche had mentioned that he had escaped, but was it from Pendrago? And was he subjected to the blighting rain, too? She had so many questions, and while she could have asked Sergei, she knew he wouldn’t have the answers she wanted. She knew she would have to Dive into him more to learn the truth._ _

__“We will help you with the Cardinal in Pendrago,” Sorey told him._ _

__“But what of your blindness?” Sergei asked him._ _

__“I have trouble fighting and seeing, but I’m not completely blind. I refuse to let this hinder me from accomplishing my dream anyway. You’re also letting us go, so I want to pay you back.” He clenched his fist. “I’ve weakened, so I need to get stronger. I have to if I want to put an end to all this foolishness.”_ _

__Sergei was surprised. Sorey’s soul was kind and gentle, but he had the sense of duty of a knight. He knelt to him once again. “I may not be able to rightfully pledge my allegiance to you, but rest assured that I will help you in any way I can.”_ _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay I lied, I might upload faster now that I finished AT2. DezeRose feels are coming in the future! And some Laisha.


	33. Phase 2:  Light and Dark, the Two Sides of Eolia

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shurelia takes on Mir while Zaveid tries to stop her and Symonne from hacking the Tower.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **PARTS OF THIS CHAPTER ARE BEING WITHHELD AT THE MOMENT, INCLUDING THE TITLE.** I wanted to actually produce the original songs I did write for this fanfiction. I won't be posting the Hymmnos/Ar Ciela lyrics for this chapter until I acquire the program to make the music and train one of my singers how to pronounce the words.
> 
> EXEC_SUSPEND/. is a canon song from Ar Tonelico 1, but because there is no official lyric (aside from the Japanese lyrics) and I don't want to put ANOTHER song into this chapter, it is only mentioned by name. That said, you can find it on YouTube.

Shurelia stood alone within the Crescent Chronicle near the middle of Eolia. She had already spoken with Tastiella, a 400-year-old guardian soul, about what had happened and how Mir had escaped. With the Star Singer missing, there was nothing to hold Mir back after breaking free from her shackles.

“Lady Shurelia, do be careful,” Tastiella had pleaded. “Mir has gotten much more powerful, and more than likely she will seek to kill you before anyone else.”

The pearl-colored Reyvateil gave the tiny woman of the moon a gentle smile. Tastiella was a dear friend who was older than her, and she was always in charge of keeping Mir in check. When the Star Singer disappeared, Mir was able to break free of her chains and escaped the Tower, which led to the present problem.

“I am fully prepared to fight against Mir,” Shurelia told her. “I’m more concerned about what will happen to the world of humans should such a battle take place. My hope is riding on Shepherd Sorey. Lyner had gone missing not too long ago—maybe ten years. This child is the only one I can depend on outside of my domain.”

As the two continued their discussion about the threat Mir posed, Zaveid found his way to the entrance of the Crescent Chronicle. He couldn’t set foot inside given his status as an exile, and he was forced to wait outside for Shurelia.

“Zaveid, when did you get here?” the Reyvateil asked when she left Tastiella. “Did you learn anything about Mir?”

“Nothing much,” Zaveid sighed. “She’s a Virus now, right? She’d be dwelling inside of a seraph, and I can’t look inside another seraph’s soul space.”

Shurelia clenched her fist. She wished she could do more, but she couldn’t leave when things were in such disarray. She beckoned him to the Rinkernator at the very top of the Tower. It was a sacred place only accessible to those who had earned her trust. The Rinkernator was her seat where she administered her commands to the Tower. Zaveid himself had never been so high above the world. He was nervous.

“We need to attempt to anticipate where and when Mir will strike. If she is using a seraph to move, it will be harder to find her,” she told him. “I may be able to neutralize her with my Song Magic if we can trap her.”

“Would your power even be enough?” Zaveid asked her. “If she’s the strongest Reyvateil ever created, that would mean she’s a couple notches above you.”

“That is true, but suppose I can stop her within me. If I can trap her within the Tower, I can shut it down and—”

“Not to be disrespectful, but if you shut down Eolia, all the seraphim that are being hunted and have been hunted will die.” Zaveid watched Shurelia with worry in his amber eyes. If the Tower shut down, the one he was supposed to protect would be defenseless. “I have a promise to keep, and if you shut it down, my promise will be broken. I can’t let him down.”

Shurelia fell silent. She apologized for her brashness, but they still had the problem of dealing with Mir. She became frustrated with herself, unable to accept that she was powerless. There had to be a way! Then she sensed her like a dreadful premonition had come.

“Is she trying to hack the Tower?” she coughed. She clutched her chest.

Zaveid dashed out of the Rinkernator on his wind and down past the Cresent Chronicle. He came to the entrance of Em Pheyna, and the residents of the sacred village of the Tower were nowhere to be found. He went down farther to the Dividing Gates where there was a horde of hellions trying to break in. In the middle of them, he found Symonne.

“What have we here? A main character in this play?” she tittered. “You’re a bit late. Mir has already begun worming her way to Shurelia, and you were dumb enough to abandon her.”

“I’m no fool,” Zaveid told her. “I already know I’m no match for Mir; you, on the other hand, I would have no problem pummeling into the earth.”

Symonne’s ruby eyes glistened with bloodlust. Neither of them could sing under Shurelia’s domain, so they were bound to fighting with their Seraphic Artes. Zaveid was apprehensive, however, because he had heard rumors about fallen seraphim. Symonne matched the description of such with her ebony hair tipped with violet, her black and purple risqué clothes, and the beaded demon tail accessory behind her. She was a master of illusory artes while he was a master of wind and brute force. On top of all that, he had to get back to Shurelia before Mir hurt her. He couldn’t fight against the Virus, but he could at least shield the administrator of Eolia from her assault.

“I don’t have time for this brat,” he mumbled. He shot himself from the ground up the sides of the Tower, and Symonne chased after him. She created clones to flank him, each one of them attacking him. “Back off!”

“Why would I do that?” Symonne giggled. “Come now, you’re just in the way!”

The clones grabbed him by the ends of his hair, which thoroughly pissed him off. They let gravity do its job, trying to pull him back down to the ground. He whipped his pendulums behind him to destroy the clones then continued up the side of the Tower.

Meanwhile, Shurelia tried to muster her strength to blow back the hellions that had broken into the Silver Horn. Even though Zaveid had begged her not to shut down the Tower, she decided that if Mir had gotten to her, she would be left with no other choice. If Mir took control, Hyland would be nothing by a vacuous crater.

Zaveid was near the Crescent Chronicle now, where Symonne cornered him into a fight. As she summoned more clones to trap him, he blew them away with his wind. “Deceiving Pummel!” he called out. Chains erupted from the surface they were standing on.

“Go, my children!” Symonne commanded.

The wind seraph jumped up over the horde of clones, again running towards the Rinkernator where Shurelia was forced to retreat to. There, she was out of energy. There, Mir stalked her battered prey. The two girls stared at each other.

“Shurelia, I’m coming for you!” Zaveid yelled as loud as he could. After pushing his body to its limits, he finally ended up at the Rinkernator with Symonne behind him.

The hellions couldn’t make it that far up in the Tower even if they tried. The power emanating from Shurelia and Mir were too great, even forcing Zaveid and Symonne to fall to their knees. The wind seraph and the fallen seraph took to the sides of their superiors.

“Zaveid, I won’t be able to fight,” Shurelia told him. “At this rate, I will have no choice. I’m entrusting my well-being to you. Now, I shall sing.”

“Symonne, prove your worth to me. Protect me while I sing,” Mir ordered her seraph of darkness. “Initating…”

“Executing…”

**[LYRICS REDACTED]**

Zaveid and Symonne were in awe. The beautiful voices of two of the strongest Reyvateils in the world sang together, and while their voices were jarring against each other, there was a strange harmony between them. Two halves coming together to make a whole—the light and darkness that had been sealed away within Eolia.

**[LYRICS REDACTED]**

Shurelia’s voice was already struggling to overpower Mir’s, and Zaveid could do nothing to help her. It didn’t matter. His goal was to protect her from Symonne. He whipped his pendulums in a show of strength, but the little fallen seraph wasn’t deterred. She giggled then sprinted towards the Reyvateil trying her hardest to sing. The infectious nature of Mir’s lyrics was jamming her Song Magic, but she pushed through. She sang so that Zaveid’s strength was bolstered. Mir sang to corrupt everything around them.

**[LYRICS REDACTED]**

Mir faltered for a moment with the verse that invoked Shurelia’s power as the administrator of the Tower. She glared at Symonne, who in turn glared at Zaveid. She amassed and sent at least twenty clones after the wind seraph, punching and kicking him. It wasn’t terrible; Symonne was small and thin to the point it looked as if she were starving. When one of the clones zapped him with their cropped wand, he retaliated.

“Radiant Heat!” he called out as a vortex of scorching air cleared out half of the clones. Symonne wouldn’t let him off so easily, so she created thirty more clones. “Radiant Heat!” he yelled again.

“You’re just wasting your time!” Symonne cackled. She dashed to him, using her cropped wand like a cattle prod and shocking him in the stomach. “There will be no end to them. Give up now. Surrender to Mir and Lord Heldalf.”

“Like I’d ever do that,” Zaveid coughed.

**[LYRICS REDACTED]**

The song was nearing its climax. Zaveid knew that if he kept trying to fight Symonne head on, she would worm her way through his defenses and kill Shurelia. He changed his plan and stood in front of the Reyvateil. Putting up a fortress of wind around them that scattered the clones away from them, he concentrated on her.

Mir’s voice was slowly overpowering the administrator, and now that the wind blew around them, she took her chance to resonate with the Tower. She ordered Symonne to circle around them, getting closer and closer like a coiling snake.

The song came to an abrupt end when Shurelia cried out in pain. Her Song Magic fell apart, her majestic voice reduced to guttural whines and yelps. She begged Mir to stop, but the Mother Virus had sublimated into the Tower. The poison that the Origin of Eolia had set out to expel from her Tower coursed through her. She then stood up behind Zaveid, who hadn’t heard her cries. She tried to slash his back, but he was too fast for her. He leapt away in the nick of time. His shield of wind disappeared.

“Lady Shurelia, what are you doing?” he panted, his body fatigued from holding up the wind shield. “No, she can’t be!” He fell to his knees in disbelief.

“Your precious Reyvateil is under my control now,” Mir laughed. “With her power supplementing mine, I can destroy this part of the world. Humans and seraphim—the wait for death’s embrace has reached an end!”

The Tower rumbled as it prepared to annihilate the surrounding area. Zaveid yelled at Shurelia with the rest of his energy. She had to wake up because if she didn’t, everyone would die. Sorey wouldn’t be able to return, and all would be lost. He would let the despair get to him, and his seraphim would fall to the malevolence and Viruses. Dragons would run rampart across the land.

“She can’t here you, fool! Shurelia’s mind has been compromised!” Mir cackled again. “Now, to destroy this dying world and give birth to a pure one!”

“Shurelia, _please_! Think about the humans you love! Think about what Sorey is trying to do for you! You have to break free!”

Symonne slashed him across the cheek with her cropped wand. She was prepared to slit his throat only to miss thanks to the quake. Then the Tower stopped shaking, and Shurelia began to glow brightly. The ivory Reyvateil stole only a moment to communicate with Zaveid.

“I’m sorry, but I have to do this. As long as Mir is within me, I can exercise my power with her trapped inside. You must find him. Form a pact with him and protect him from the evil that threatens to kill us all. I rest everything on his shoulders,” Shurelia kindly and sadly said. She straightened herself. Mir was restrained for now, which gave her the time to execute the Song that would shut down the Tower and seal Mir once again. “Initializing Hymmnos: EXEC_SUSPEND/.”

Shurelia began to sing, and when she finished her song, the Tower fell asleep. All the hellions inside the Tower were gone, and Zaveid and Symonne were forced to leave. They went their separate ways to recover from the intensity of the Song Magic between Shurelia and Mir. Both disappeared into the forest below.

Out of curiosity, the wind seraph travelled to Ladylake. The seraphim within the city were either unconscious or perturbed by the sudden loss of their Song Magic. The humans that abused them struck them as if it were their fault for being unable to sing anymore. The worst had come true just like he thought it would. Without any hesitation, Zaveid made his way to the Rolance territory in search of the Shepherd.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> At this point, I'm deviating from Zestiria's story a tad and going in line with Ar Tonelico...kind of. Still, writing lyrics for a song battle who would actually be sung by the same singer--this one is a doozy.


	34. Phase 2:  IPD Disease

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After learning more about the IPD Disease crisis in Pendrago, Sorey and company head out to the Meadow of Triumph where they get their first glimpse of the disease.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I think this chapter was written during physics. I wrote the Dive Therapy a little differently from AT2 (because I don't remember the explanation to cure all the IPDs you find), but I think it works. And considering I'm writing Edna closer to Luca's cosmosphere, I thought it would be fitting for her to be the unlicensed Dive Therapist with nothing better to do but to learn how to do in the centuries she was stuck on her mountain.

The Cardinal Forton. She was a wise woman with two other sisters that had gone their separate ways to do righteous things in the world. One tried to care for a plague village while the other wanted to create her own sanctuary village at the base of Tilia far from the poisonous corruption of Rolance. Both were persecuted and murdered by their own people. The Cardinal was the only one of them who rose to the top and commanded the power of the army and the political prowess of the king. She only came into that power when Pope Masedra disappeared, and she launched a puppet campaign to find him. She never got an evidence that he was still alive, but he never came back. It was that day that the blighting rain came, trapping the people in their city with no food and useless seraphim that were too scared to work outside as the corrosive drops pierced their clothes and skin. 

She was a regal woman that wore sacred robes from the shrinechurch, but whenever Sergei passed her by, he always detected a heinous aura drifting from her. He knew that she was one of the few that believed in completely suppressing the seraphim to do their bidding as opposed to varying degrees of control that were popular among other officials. While he hadn’t heard of Ladylake’s plan in full detail, he knew that that was what they did as well. Cardinal Forton, who was the leader in the experiments on IPD seraphim, was more brutal than Bartlow. Many seraphim died shortly after being contained, and Dezel was painfully aware of this fact.

“The Platinum Knights can’t go against the entirety of the Rolance Army,” Sergei told them. “It’s insubordination punishable by death. And with Cardinal Forton at the reigns, I fear that she would use us as an example not to cross her.”

Sorey clenched his fists with frustration. Alisha held her tongue because, as the princess of Hyland, her words would spark unrest in their new ally. Rose focused on Dezel. Of the three of them, she was the least concerned about the war between Hyland and Rolance. When Sergei begged them to help Pendrago and to remove Cardinal Forton, they knew that he was risking everything. It was treason. Sorey didn’t want him to be executed, but Rolance was different from Hyland as far as the seraphim went. Rose was the only one with any experience with an IPD seraph, and she was preoccupied solely with Dezel’s mental health.

“Can you give us any information about what they do?” the Shepherd boldly asked, knowing that Dezel would object to hearing it. “I need to know what we’re going up against.”

 _“No!”_ Dezel screamed in Rose’s head. _“Rose, please leave. I don’t want to hear about it. Just get out of the sanctuary!”_ Rose had never heard Dezel panic so fervently. She excused herself on behalf of her seraph, stepping outside. The clouds were sparce in the sky.

“Dezel, why can’t I hear about it?” she asked him gently. He didn’t answer. “Well, if you don’t tell me, then I’ll just ask Sorey when we head out.”

_“You can’t know. It’s for your own good.”_

“Nonsense. Not knowing compromises my effectiveness in the effort.”

_“It doesn’t matter what your effectiveness is. You cannot know.”_

“Oh yeah? Just watch me.”

Dezel suddenly came outside and pushed her up against the door. If anyone in Lastonbell saw him now, he wouldn’t care. He didn’t like that Rose was challenging him so stupidly. He wished he could have slap some sense into her, but the thought of hurting her pained him more than he expected. He could only threaten her with empty words:

“If you defy me, I will kill you.”

“Threaten me all you want. I want to protect you, and if that means having you use all your strength to hold me back, so be it.”

Alisha’s voice came from behind the door. “Rose, is everything alright? We heard a thump and got worried that something happened,” she said. The assassin merely told her that she was in a spat with Dezel again.

She glared at Dezel where his eyes would be if he uncovered them. “For now, go back inside. If anything happens to you, I’ll use one of the many poisons that the Scattered Bones has in reserve to exact my revenge.”

Dezel for a moment was afraid that the malevolence would taint his vessel, but Rose’s unnaturally pure heart was resilient. She didn’t promise this out of greed or anger. Deep inside he knew that she would do anything to keep him safe. She promised him countless times she would.

He paused for a second, mulling something over, then went back inside. She looked around; no one had seen the altercation or cared to see it, and she went back inside the sanctuary. Sorey looked grave, and Mikleo and Edna were by his side with the former holding him close. Lailah was hugging Alisha. Rose felt strange being the only one among them who wasn’t allowed to hear about the experiments that Sergei mentioned. After Sorey caught a glimpse of her, he straightened himself and smacked himself to loosen up the frowning muscles. He pretended like nothing happened.

“It’s time we head to Pendrago,” he told her determinedly.

“Shouldn’t we wait until morning?” Rose asked.

“Not with the situation getting worse. It’ll be easier to move under the darkness as well.”

“Thank you, Shepherd Sorey,” Sergei gratefully said. “I will go on ahead and notify my squadron. When you arrive in Pendrago, head to the inn and dry yourself as soon as possible.”

Sorey gave his word as he watched Sergei leave the sanctuary. They remained in the sanctuary until they heard hoofbeats thunder past. Emerging from the sanctuary later that night and with the seraphim all inside, Sorey led Alisha and Rose to the western gate of Lastonbell that let out into the Meadow of Triumph, a rich green field of jade-colored grass dotted with flowers of every color. At the very center of the meadow was a small wood like a giant toadstool of trees. To the south were the Biroclef Ridge, and to the north was Mallory the Patinal Forest. Straight across was Pendrago’s farmland, Pearloats Pasture. Such a beautiful place, too, was wrought with malevolence.

Rose pointed to a large imposing structure that seemed to be floating in the sky. It was shaped like a giant bell with a second structure just underneath it. An orb form floated near it. This was the Second Tower Frelia and yet another but smaller orb floated near that one.

“That’s so cool!” Sorey cooed. “How does it float like that? Why did they choose the shape of a bell? What’s the Origin going to be like?”

 _“Calm down, ruin geek,”_ Edna sighed. _“We’re not on a field trip.”_

“It would be a good idea to see if we could scout it out,” Alisha said.

Dezel came out along with the other seraphim with them. According to him, it was impossible to enter the Second Tower due to its capacity to float so high above the ground. The only way to do so would be to fly or use Song Magic as an elevator, both of which were inefficient because flying would render them oxygen-deprived and the Song Magic would exhaust Dezel before they were halfway there.

“Have you tried?” Lailah asked.

“N-No, but—”

“Well, there you have it! Alright, Dezel, let’s go check this place out!” Rose grinned. She pushed him towards Frelia, passing the leaning towers that had been built some time after the Second Tower. Sorey wanted to stay and examine these structures, but they had to save it for another time. “Okay, do your stuff!” But Dezel refused. “Come on, why do you have to be like this?” He looked like he was going to be sick, feverish and tired.

Sorey let him lean on his shoulder. “What’s wrong?” he asked him.

“Someone near…they’re infected…I didn’t think I would be affected by it…” Dezel murmured.

Lailah and Edna searched around the area where they found a seraph child passed out. She, too, appeared feverish and was unconscious. She mumbled in her sleep incoherent words. Every once in a while, she would say something like “darkness” or “scared”.

“This must be the IPD disease,” Alisha whispered. “But we can heal her with Dive Therapy, correct?” she asked louder.

“Only someone who is trained can do it…” Dezel coughed.

Edna stepped up, which confused everyone. She pulled out the yellow iris gem she had found to show that it was shining brilliantly in her hand. “Now’s as good a time as any,” she said.

“Edna, you’re a Dive Therapist?” Lailah interrogated her with wonder.

“Not a licensed one. I had a lot of time to spare when Eizen wasn’t trying to destroy everything. He wrote to me about it once as well. He had met Zaveid when they were younger, and that idiot was the one to talk about it. I became interested, but I couldn’t understand the books he sent. Fast-forward a thousand years, and I forced myself to learn. It’s based on theory, and I’ve never gotten to successfully try it with Eizen, but he also wasn’t an IPD.”

Edna instructed Alisha to act as a pillow for the seraph girl. It was important that the patient was comfortable. Sorey could sense that she was nervous, which was unlike the earth seraph, but he believed in her. Edna placed the iris gem in the patient’s hands over her heart. Closing her eyes, she focused on the iris gem. The golden sphere was a funnel into the IPD soul space, dropping her in a specific spot from where she would work. On the outside, it was like Edna had fallen asleep while sitting up. Inside the soul space, she had to convince the seraph that everything would be okay.

\------------------------------------------------------------------

“Who are you?” the seraph child asked. “Where am I? Why is it so dark?”

Edna sat on her knees. “This is your heart, muddled by the negative emotions swirling inside Infel Phira. I’m here to free you from it.” Next, she materialized a small table with tea and scones. “Please, have a seat.” The seraph child did as she was told. She cautiously reached for a scone while Edna poured her tea. “Rooibos Madascar vanilla—a rare tea.”

The seraph child took a sip after she received her cup, her face brightening up like the sun. The darkness in her heart waned. She asked her therapist, “What are you afraid of? I’m afraid of being lonely.”

“I’m afraid of getting lost. I’ve lived on a mountain with a dragon for centuries, and now I have friends that worry about me,” Edna replied sweetly. The seraph child seemed to get a little jealous. “Can I ask you something? Why are you out here alone if you’re afraid of being lonely?”

The seraph child took another scone, her purple doe eyes brimming with tears. “My mommy and I were kidnapped from our home. An old man was protecting us, and the soldiers came and killed him. They took us to the castle. They hurt my mommy, and they threatened to kill me if she didn’t do what they wanted her to do. Mommy tricked them today, and I escaped. She told me to keep running. They…They did something to her, and she started screaming. Then everything was quiet. They came after me, but they gave up when I hid. I was so sad. I cried, and then I felt tired. Then I woke up here in the darkness. Then you came.”

“Were you trying to go to Frelia?” Edna asked her.

“Uh-huh. I thought that if I got into Frelia, the soldiers would run away and let all of the others go. But I’m not big enough to enter Frelia.”

Edna walked around the table to the seraph child where she embraced her. She told her everything would be okay. She told her about Sorey and Alisha and Rose and how they wanted to protect the seraphim. Sorey was the Shepherd, the one who would help them live peacefully. Rose had an entire underground group that was smuggling seraphim around. Alisha was gaining information to reform her city and free the seraphim that were enslaved there.

“There are people working to save you. It will take some time, but don’t worry and don’t give up,” Edna said.

\---------------------------------------------------------------

When Edna woke up from the session, she found that the iris gem was no longer shining, and the seraph child had roused. She was apparently cured of her of condition, and Dezel was feeling better. Rose had already contacted the Sparrowfeathers to pick her up and take her to the temporary hideout in Mallory.

Before the seraph child was put onto the caravan that had arrived only minutes later, she smiled at Edna. “Thank you, Big Sister Edna!” she laughed.

Edna blushed, but she refused to show it. Sorey patted her head, congratulating her on a job well done. Mikleo was somewhat envious, yet his mind wandered elsewhere. Dezel had felt the infected girl’s consciousness. Something about it made him worry; he remembered that the disease was highly infectious, and while he could never know what happened inside the girl’s soul space, he was scared for Dezel. He knew the extent that Rolance tortured the seraphim, and he tried every day to repress the memories and feelings from when Bartlow nearly killed him. He wanted Rose to know the danger. But could Rose handle what it meant to be tortured to near-death?

Unable to head into Frelia, Sorey led his group to the toadstool wood in the center of the meadow. The sun was beginning to rise, and daybreak was nigh. The wood wasn’t thick enough to hide them, but it granted them some sort of shelter from the sun that would bake them later that day. But there was something else there—a large stone monolith that stood just behind a stone passage underground. It was a crucible, and Lailah stiffened.

“Do we really need to stop here?” she asked.

“We could probably sit out in the open grass, but that would mean we’d get hunted by soldiers or eaten by hellions…possibly eaten by hellion soldiers,” Rose sarcastically said.

Alisha flicked an annoyed glare at her before tending to her dear fire seraph. “Is something wrong?” she asked her.

“This is a crucible with a dangerous amount of malevolence from venomization,” she explained. “Even if we’re not under Eolia right now, we can still be affected by it and develop Viruses.”

Alisha kissed her briefly. As long as she was with her human vessel, she was safe. Sorey was intrigued by the crucible, and as he was about to head down into its depth, Mikleo held him back. Naturally, the water seraph didn’t want his human to enter the belly of an unknown beast, but Sorey promised it would be okay. He grew serious.

“We should try to quell the malevolence within the crucibles. We need to do everything we can to reduce the malevolence in the world,” the Shepherd said.

“Well, before you go off to commit suicide, I should remind you that I’m long overdo for a Dive,” Edna sharply said. “You have to take care of both of us.” She pointed her umbrella at Sorey’s face. “Let’s go.”

Dezel nudged Rose. “Let’s Dive, too.” He was subdued.

Sorey and Rose were beside themselves, and they half-expected Lailah to suggest Diving with Alisha, but if she did, then Mikleo would be left to fight off anyone that came for them. The Shepherd and the red-haired Squire Armatized with their apparently eager seraphim.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Is it me, or is Dezel more cute when he unexpectedly asks Rose to Dive?


	35. Phase 2:  Isolated World of the Iron Princess

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cosmosphere Level 3: Edna  
>  _Ma num ra chs pic wasara mea,_  
>  _en fwal syec mea._  
>  _Was yea ra chs mea yor_  
>  _en fwal en chs hymme._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bless Tales of Link for having God Eater Edna as an official art that I would work from. It's sad to see the servers closing, but nothing lasts forever. I also already took screenshots of my favorite units, and you know what? THEY GAVE ME AWAKENED EIZEN JUST BEFORE SHUTDOWN. So I'm a little salty. But anyway, hopefully this chapter is good. Viva la God Eater collab.

_“It’s about time you decided to Dive into me again,”_ Edna pouted. _“You’ve got two seraphim to take care, you know.”_ She crossed her arms and turned away from Sorey. At first, the Shepherd believed that he was going to be locked out of her heart forever, which wasn’t conducive of their relationship or her Song Magic at all. _“You humans have such one-track minds, yet you make things so complicated. If you only wanted one seraph, you shouldn’t have made a pact with me.”_ Sorey was about to correct her, but she continued, _“I wouldn’t have to waste my time with you, or run into Zaveid, or leave Eizen. But I guess if I didn’t go with you, I’d be a Seraphoid or probably just dead or a hellion.”_ Sorey raised a finger to protest. _“That’s why this is so difficult. I’d rather be alone, but I have to stay with you if I want to avenge Eizen. Ugh, this indecisiveness could send me into a paradox loop.”_

Sorey sighed. _“Edna, I’m not trying to ignore you,”_ he tried to explain. _“Since Mikleo’s incident, I’ve been worried about leaving him alone.”_ He took her hands. _“But that doesn’t mean I don’t care about you. You’re strong like the earth, so I can trust that you’ll be okay.”_

Edna blushed. _“Why are you so dumb? Let’s just do this, then you can go back to your boyfriend.”_

Sorey wasn’t happy with that response; it felt like he really let her down. It felt like she was uncharacteristically jealous. He touched her chest, Diving into the third level of her soul space.

\-------------------------------------------------

Sorey appeared at the Stonehenge where Phoenix was sitting in deep thought. He wanted to ask it what to expect in this level, yet there was something that nagged at him, telling him that he wouldn’t get a straight answer. Still, anything would be helpful since Edna wasn’t one to divulge her troubles without a massive amount of pressure. He sat next to it.

The golden Normin looked up at him, eyes full of contempt. “You’ve been away for a while,” it said. “I’m surprised you came back. I thought Edna had scared you away for good.” When Sorey shook his head denying that Edna frightened him, it laughed. “She must have convinced you to come back then.”

“I’ve been preoccupied with other things,” Sorey said. Talking about another seraph too much would probably have adverse effects. It was best to avoid saying too much about Mikleo’s situation.

“Right. Well, you’d better get on your way. This one is going to be a doozy.”

Sorey got up to leave, but something had been bothering him about the Normin. How did seraphim come to have these Normin as their mind guardians? What were the stories behind the Normin? Even though he had these burning questions, Phoenix dubbed him yet too naïve to understand the intricacies of the seraph mind. His overarching relationship with the seraphim meant nothing in this realm because every seraph was different. He thought that maybe it was dependent on their personalities, but that was the only thing Phoenix answered—and the answer was a succinct “no”.

“Please, just tell me your story,” Sorey begged. “It might help with understanding Edna.”

“My story will help,” Phoenix began, bringing an eager smile to Sorey’s face. “But your mind won’t be able to understand the hardships she’s endured. The amount of malevolence that she has had to fight off will end you, child. Keep Diving into her, and maybe you’ll learn the truth.”

Finding that he had lost this battle of wills, Sorey accepted that he would have to Dive more into the earth seraph’s heart like Phoenix had said. He left the Stonehenge in search of Edna, heading to a town that now resembled Lastonbell.

The town was small and covered in posters and paraphernalia about someone called the Iron Maiden. All sorts of men were gushing over her. Then there was a fanfare followed by some man coming out to announce something. Sorey pushed his way through the faceless crowd.

“There has been another Aragami sighting north of our hamlet! But fear not, my fellow admirers, for the Iron Maiden shall save us! When she arrives, we will shower her with our love and praise!” he rallied. The crowd cheered, chanting the Iron Maiden’s title repeatedly and loudly.

Sorey looked around. What was an Aragami?

A horrendous roar unlike a dragon’s resonated through the soul space, something that he had never heard before. A lion-faced beast discharging electricity rammed into the town’s gates incessantly, and the men cowered in fear. Finally, on the rooftops, a lone girl with a large wrist brace and a matching blade five times her size stood over them. “The Vajra has come,” she softly said. She looked down at Sorey dead in his eyes. “Run.”

The Vajra burst through the town gates and into the crowd of suitors and admirers. Half of them died once it tore through the crowd while the other half scattered. Sorey was paralyzed with fear. The monster looked like Heldalf but also like something he had only heard of in fairytales, and he was uncertain that he would survive. The beast let out a low growl as it breathed in his face and sniffed his hair. He was powerless once again in the soul space to truly defend himself.

“Get lost!” the girl threatened the beast. She sliced into it with the giant blade, black blood and amber-colored specks spewing out of its side. The Vajra left Sorey for her, and she backed away accordingly before switching her blade into a titanic gun. “Say hello to me little friend.” She launched a magazine of special bullets that broke through the Vajra’s mask. It ran away in pain, and while she knew the beast would be back before nightfall, she had to clear the town of bodies and find out what Sorey was doing there. “Boy, who are you? I’ve never seen you around here.”

“Edna…?” Sorey uttered. “Is that really you?”

“You know my name?” the girl asked. He got a better look at her. Her hair was styled the same as usual, but she wore a frilly white blouse with a red ribbon, its skirt large and poofy with a corset tie down either side. Her pinstripe stockings fed down into her combat boots, and Sorey had to wonder if this was the same girl that he had found on the Spiritcrest.

“Edna, what’s that weapon you have?”

“It’s called a God Arc. It’s the only thing that can kill the Aragami, and I’m the only person in the town that can wield it. It’s made from the same thing that that monster is made of, so once it’s hurt, it’ll stay hurt.”

She pulled him up to his feet. She allowed him an attempt to lift the God Arc, and because it looked weightless when she carried it, Sorey mistakenly threw his arm up. The tendons in his wrist stretched to their limit, and he found out very quickly that there was no way he could lift the sword without breaking his wrist. The only way Edna could wield it was because she had that wrist brace.

“But at the very least, I’m happy you don’t call me that stupid name,” she said as she led him to her home. “Every time I show up to exterminate the Aragami, it’s ‘Iron Maiden’ this and ‘Iron Maiden’ that. The men that fawn over me—they only love me because I save them all the damn time.”

Sorey just listened to her.

“Whenever they hear the Aragami are coming, they stop everything and beseech me to rescue them. I’m only a savior to them, not…not a person.”

The Shepherd felt like something inside broke. His heart? But why? Edna was a savior—she saved him and Mikleo, she saved the little seraph that had run away from Pendrago. Did she think that Sorey thought the same of her?

“Edna, you are a person,” he told her truthfully.

“Bullshit,” Edna spat. She went on, detailing that when there were days on end without an Aragami report, the same men that called for her and loved her didn’t even think about her. They went on with their lives without a single thought about how she was faring while she trained to fight the Vajra and the ones that were steps above it. “That’s why I’ve decided that I’m not going to do this anymore. Sorey, I’m going to run away. I want to do something with my life, be someone that isn’t chained to this reality where I only exist to save the very people I have come to hate.”

With that, Edna left. She was gone in just a blink. And Sorey was so confused. He didn’t see her as a tool. He didn’t realize that he had neglected her to this extent. He returned to the Stonehenge where Phoenix was. He wanted to know what happened.

“You’re not ready to know,” Phoenix said again.

“Whatever it is, I need to know. Why does Edna think I don’t see her as a person? Why does she want to isolate herself?” Sorey begged. “If I’ve neglected her—whatever I’ve done to her—I want to make it right.”

Phoenix just watched him. It mulled over his request.

“I will only tell you what applies to this level,” it said. “Edna has always been alone, and when you came, you took away that loneliness. But you don’t pay attention to her as much as you do the others, so naturally, that loneliness came back.”

Screams came from the town, and thunder clouds lit up the sky over it. The Vajra had returned. Sorey couldn’t go back to the village because the beast would eat him alive. He scanned the rest of the soul space, and he found the mountain that the earth seraph used to spend her days.

“Edna!” Sorey cried out. He rushed to the mountain, but there was no time to use the path carved out in its side. “Edna, you’ve got to come back!” He climbed up the side of the mountain. “Edna, everyone’s going to die!” Rocks gave way under his weight as he scaled it. “Edna, I’m sorry if I’ve neglected you!” He reached the peak. “I’m sorry if you feel lonely!”

Edna turned around, the little red flowers after which she was named drifting in the wind. Sorey hugged her tightly from behind. “Sorey, what are you doing?” Edna asked him surprised. She tried desperately to wriggle free from his embrace only to exhaust her tiny body.

“I’m sorry that I make you feel lonely,” Sorey told her. “We made you come with us, and I don’t do enough to make you feel part of the group.”

Edna was speechless.

“I’m so sorry, Edna. Please, can you ever forgive me?”

After a while, she spoke, “You dummy.” She pulled back and faced him. “You’re not supposed to cry for me.” She wiped his tears away, a strange gentleness that he never knew she could have. “Come on, we have a Vajra to kill.”

Edna and Sorey returned to the town, where the Vajra had eaten a few more people. Sorey’s sword was far too small to withstand of the Vajra’s attacks or to injure its armor-like body, but he wasn’t meant to fight it. It wasn’t his fight but Edna’s. Because the beast was still weakened from its previous attempt to kill the villagers, she only needed to knocked it around a few times.

“Go away!” she commanded as she finally stabbed its head. The Aragami living within her blade came alive, chomping into its side and harvesting the Oracle Cells that resided in its corpse.

After the corpse withered away to dust, Sorey and the Iron Maiden returned to the Stonehenge for the Paradigm Shift. Phoenix smiled at the Shepherd, and Edna who had been so lonely smiled as well.

“Edna, I—” Sorey started.

“Sorey, you’re an idiot, but your heart’s in the right place,” Edna said. “I don’t want you to abandon Mikleo, but I want you to remember that I’m here, too. I want to support you and your dream, and I want you to help me seek revenge on the humans that took Eizen away from me. I can’t do that if you don’t pay attention to me every once in a while.” She averted his gaze. “I don’t want you to forget that I’m here.”

Sorey nodded, knowing that he was guilty. Edna stepped through the light to proceed to the next level.

“Things are going to get harder from here,” Phoenix said. “You’ve broken through the shell, now be prepared for her real emotions.”

Sorey steeled himself. He wanted to see Edna grow. He didn’t care what her real emotions were as long as he could support her.

\---------------------------------------------

Sorey and Edna woke up next to each other while Lailah and Alisha pulled Mikleo away from them so they could talk. The Shepherd looked at Edna, who was hiding behind her umbrella. Little sniffles could be heard.

“Stupid,” Edna snapped.

“What?” Sorey asked.

“You made a girl cry. But…it feels okay.” Edna closed her umbrella. “I refuse to cry in front of everyone, and I forbid you from making me cry again.”

Sorey promised her. He couldn’t forgive himself for ignoring her, and he wanted to make things right with her. He patted her head as he made his promise.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bit of a shorter chapter. It's been a while since I've played God Eater (Lindow keeps kicking my ass), and the anime was good but more like a day-to-day type thing. Next chapter is probably going to be better?


	36. Phase 2:  Dueling Seraphim

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cosmosphere Level 3: Dezel
> 
> _ENTER root.mea_  
>  _SET G.W.C. 3600Hmag/s_   
> _0x01_  
>  _SET StartF 19021Hz_  
>  _0x01_  
>  _COM:_  
>  _Ma num ra flip 0x0011000011_   
> _yor enter COSMOSPHERE.mea/._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Quick update because I promised a friend I would upload the next DezeRose chapter on her birthday. That said, I PURPOSELY wrote the chapter like this. It's supposed to be short and not very detailed, and I thought it was kind of funny while writing it. Once again, bless Tales of Link for giving us our collabs. This time we get the Tekken x Tales of units--Jin Kazama Dezel!

Rose gave Dezel a stern look even though he couldn’t necessarily tell that she was upset with him. She tapped her foot, processing what she was going to say in her mind before speaking out.

_“What was the last level all about?”_ she said, trying as hard as possible not to come off as too angry. _“That didn’t even feel like it was a real Dive. The first level had more meat to it. The second level was over in seconds and just sad.”_

Dezel prickled. He was perfectly fine with the Dives being so short-lived. He didn’t want Rose dwelling around for too long inside of his heart, and it was better if she only got superficial details. He tensed at the idea of her walking around inside of him again, though. He had to limit her.

_“I thought we were close enough that you could share your feelings with me,”_ Rose tearfully said. Dezel now panicked.

He pulled her close and wiped her cheeks. _“R-Rose, don’t cry in my heart. I don’t want your tears leaving stains everywhere—this sounds so corny—but seriously, I don’t need your fluids here.”_

_“My fluids? Am I that repulsive?!”_ she blubbered. _“Dezel, this isn’t fair! We can trust each other! We have to!”_

Flustered and confused about what to do to fix the problem, Dezel reluctantly hugged her. Rose instantly froze. Despite being naked with each other in the ephemeral space of the soul, it felt like they were fully clothed. Yet there was a strange warmness that radiated from the wind seraph. Or maybe it was coming from her face because she was blushing so hard. When she felt him stroking her hair in a haphazard attempt to comfort her, she wondered again if this was the same Dezel that she had grown up with. She was about to gently push him away to look up at his face, but instead she touched his chest gingerly and accidentally Dived into his soul.

\----------------------------------------------

Rose fell off the piles of stones that she had landed on in the center of the Stonehenge. She found, upon looking around to gain her bearings, that everything was made out of cardboard from the trees to the path leading away from the Stonehenge. In fact, it felt like the Stonehenge was the only thing made out of what it was named for. Everything else was a game board.

“Oh, you’re here!” Windur happily said. “Master Dezel is waiting at the starting block.”

“Starting block?” Rose repeated.

The Normin took her to where Dezel was, and what she found was a different wind seraph from the previous two levels and the one from reality. This time Dezel was dressed in a fearsome black and red hoodie with gloves studded with gold pellets. His black pants had the red outline of fire, and his hair covered his face as usual. Rose was surprised that he would wear something like this, especially since the ringed zipper was pulled halfway down his torso, reveal a muscular and broad chest. Was Dezel always that muscular?

“Finally, an opponent has arrived,” he smirked. “I am Jin Kazama.”

Rose was confused again. At first, she thought he was going to fight her, and if that were the case, she was sure to die. There was, however, another challenger behind her. It was Zaveid! The battle ensued with her in the middle of it all. In a few punches, Dezel had soundly defeated Zaveid, and a Paradigm Shift appeared at the Stonehenge.

“A-Again? What the hell? I didn’t get to do anything again! This Dive only last, like, thirty seconds!” Rose miffed.

Jin Kazama led Rose to the Paradigm Shift, said something to the effect of learning how to fight better, then passed through. The red-haired assassin refused to believe that this was a Dive.

“Windur, this can’t be right!” she cried. “There wasn’t even any dialogue!”

“This is the level. Maybe he doesn’t trust you as much as you think he does,” Windur sang. “Either way, you’ve completed the Dive, so it’s time to go back to reality. Bye-bye!”

\------------------------------------------------------

Rose shot up from her spot next to Dezel in the grass. Sorey was startled by the ferociousness, and Edna pulled him away…not that it did much to make their conversation secret.

“Again?! There’s no way that was a real Dive!” she bellowed.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about. Dives depend on the seraph. Maybe I don’t have as many problems as you think I should have,” Dezel nonchalantly told her.

“You and I both know that’s complete horse crap.”

“You wouldn’t know. I’m the only seraph you can Dive into.”

Lailah stepped in. “N-Now, now! What’s important is that Rose and Dezel—”

“Stay out of it,” the assassin and the wind seraph growled, making Lailah almost cry as she returned to Alisha’s arms.

Mikleo leaned into Sorey’s back like he was about to say something, but Edna let out a loud obnoxious yawn to drown him out. She found it boring that Rose and Dezel let their incompatibility get in the way of the Dives. She compared herself and Sorey to them, a prideful and mocking smile stretching on her lips like a witch. In the end, she had to pity them because she had never heard of a consenting seraph and his human fight this much.

With the two Dives completed regardless of how long or in-depth they were, Sorey was prepared to take on the crucible standing before him. He took a step in, unaware that the others couldn’t follow him and deaf to their warnings.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> How many of you can see where this is going? I promise Dezel's Dives aren't all like this with little to no substance. There's a reason for it! Happy birthday to my friend, even if it's isn't long or angsty.


	37. Phase 2:  Malevolent Crucible Sanjiva

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sorey enters the first crucible.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I thought the crucibles could actually be story relevant instead of sidequest farming holes.

_Wee num wa rre pauwee hueaf enter syec Manac SANJIVA_  
_Ween hymmnos oz spiritum jefea echrra_  
_En gyas elle phiz loss tilanta anw ciel_  
_Wee num ra rre pauwee hueaf presia zethpa anw bengnuih dea viega yor_  
_En flip gauto tes hymmnos lir en fogabe_

The Hymmnos droned in Sorey’s mind like bees, and he wished that he could understand what it was saying. He had looked behind him after going down halfway to find that no one was with him. He was alone in the growing darkness of the crucible, but he wasn’t scared. He couldn’t be scared. His goal was to quell the malevolence in the world and bring peace and happiness, and purifying the crucibles was the first step to making a difference. Though it struck him peculiar that the Hymmnos he heard in his head was similar to the Hymmnos that Shurelia had used when she first met him. Despite it not being a Song, it was still melodious, but there was no emotion. It felt like a warning or something forboding.

As he went deeper, he felt more and more sluggish. The malevolence was seeping into his body, and his connections with Mikleo and Edna were thinning. How far did he have to go to quell the malevolence? If he went too far down, would he succumb to the malevolence and become a hellion?

Sorey arrived at the deepest part of the crucible while clutching his chest. Falling to his knees, he worried that he would pass out, and no one would be able to save him. His heart beat so hard that it pushed against his sternum, causing it either feel like it would burst out of him or would puncture itself.

“This isn’t the place to die,” he wheezed. He forced himself up. “I’ve got to make it through this.” He stood up in the center of the arena of the crucible. He was ready.

Hellions spawned from the ground—wolves, snakes, centipedes, boars—all sorts of demon animals that thirst for his blood. Behind them was a seraph who had lost herself long ago. She wasn’t an IPD seraph, just a normal one that had succumbed to the malevolence. She had scales growing on her face and arms, her eyes glazed with rage.

“Why are you here?” she snarled. “Why? Why, why, why, why? Go away, go away, go away!”

While the hellions charged toward Sorey, she sang to bolster their attacks. She healed them when Sorey fought them off, and when she had decided to attack, she launched her strongest Song Magic at him before using her Seraphic Artes against him.

Sorey was forced to dodge each attack since any hit would obliterate him. It was awful being alone, and at first, he was in danger of losing hope. He tried to get close to the seraph that was fighting against him only to be chased away by one of the hellionized animals that had been feeding her more and more malevolence. His heart strained with each movement; if the hellions and the seraph didn’t kill him, his body would crumble on its own.

“Please, stop, I don’t want to fight you!” he told the seraph. She ignored him, singing louder and faster, giving birth to stronger Song Magic. “If I kill you, I’ll regret it!”

“Go away!” the seraph screeched.

Sorey managed to kill two hellions before the seraph got him with one of her Songs. The wind had been knocked out of him, yet it almost felt like there was some restraint in her power. When he looked up at her, he saw tears streaming down her face. There was no way around it—she knew she had to die if she wanted to be free from the crucible. The idea had to be reconfigured, he had to understand that he wasn’t killing her but liberating her from the shackles placed on her by either humans or Heldalf.

The kind and gentle Shepherd accepted that he couldn’t save every seraph. To some, salvation came in death. His body aching under the pressure of the malevolence, he calmed himself. He steeled himself as he prepared to use what was called a Mystic Arte.

“It’s time!” he yelled as he slashed the seraph three times. “Howling blade!” He uppercut the seraph a few feet into the air. “Bolt Tempest!”

The blows had caught the hellions as well, and while they were instantly purified, the seraph crawled on the ground crying out in pain like an injured dog. Her legs had been severely wounded, and she was listless. She begged for someone to save her. Sorey wanted to hide in shame for doing it to her.

“I’m sorry,” he apologized. “I’m so sorry this happened to you.”

“Please, someone…!” she gasped. She turned around to face him, and for a brief moment, there was a look of clarity. “ _Was yea ra presia aferzeria spiritum yor_.” Sorey leapt backwards as she sang again, only this time her attack was meant to kill herself instead of him. When the smoke from the explosion cleared, there was nothing left of her.

The Shepherd sat for a moment as the malevolence cleared from the crucible. He had seen yet another seraph meet their end, and he cursed himself for not stopping her. Even if the crucible was cleared now, and even though he had accepted that he couldn’t save everyone from a horrible fate, he was filled with sadness. He remembered what happened to Mikleo and Eizen and Uno, and he prayed he never had to see another seraph go through the torture of being experimented on then discarded like trash. As he sat coming to terms with the price of freedom, the droning voice that had intruded his mind before returned.

_Was yea ra presia aferzeria spiritum yor_  
_Was yea ra presia aferzeria spiritum yor_

It was the same line that the seraph had said before she died, and then he realized that it was her voice that encouraged him to go through with it. He wished to understand the language only spoken by seraphim. Pulling himself together, Sorey climbed back to the top of the crucible. It felt as if he had left something behind, a piece of him that was important. Was it the malevolence? Or was it the guilt of killing an innocent seraph that was forced to become a monstrous juggernaut?

When he emerged from the crucible, it was nighttime. The western end of the Meadow of Triumph was shrouded in dark clouds presumably carrying the blighting rain. He had spent longer in the crucible than he imagined.

“Sorey!” Mikleo said with some relief. He scooped him up into his arms then realized that he was trembling ever so slightly. “W-What’s wrong?” Edna and Lailah joined him. Mikleo kissed him softly on the cheek to give him solace. “Did something happen?”

That was when Sorey fell to his knees. He was weak and hungry, sad and confused. Rose and Alisha went off to find some game to cook despite Dezel begging them not to hurt any animals. Rose’s response was simply that it was an eat-or-be-eaten world. Poor choice of words, but he couldn’t deny it.

Mikleo sat close to him after Rose and Alisha returned with a few rabbits and Lailah cooked them. The water seraph held up a stick of meat to his beloved Shepherd’s lips, but Sorey hesitated to eat.

“Would you forgive me?” Sorey quietly asked him. Mikleo looked at him. “Would you forgive me if I almost killed a seraph?” Alisha and Rose exchanged glances. “There was a seraph down there in the crucible. She’d already gone crazy, but she wasn’t an IPD. And before she killed herself, she said something in Hymmnos.”

“Sorey, please be careful,” Lailah told him. “The guilt will generate malevolence.”

“I couldn’t save her, but when she looked at me, she was normal for a second. She said, ‘ _Was yea ra presia aferzeria spiritum yor_. What does that mean?” He took one of Mikleo’s hands, squeezing it tightly, waiting for an answer. “What does it mean?”

Mikleo smiled gently. He took his hand away, rubbed his cheek, handed him the cooked rabbit. He had to think in the simplest way to translate. She had thanked him. Of course, Sorey didn’t understand why she would thank him when she took her own life.

“You tried to save her by quelling the crucible, right?” Edna asked. “It’s probably the most anyone had done for her since she was captured. She knew there was no escape except death, and deep down, she knew that you were trying to help her.”

Lailah thought it was as a good time as any to educate her friends about the crucibles. The seraph had been thrown down there in an effort to turn her in a dragon. Hellions were put into massive fighting pits, feeding off of each other’s malevolence and producing larger and stronger monsters. By throwing a seraph into the mix, a dragon would be born but not before she had completely lost her mind among the madness. Crucibles had been lost in time after falling out of favor compared to the Seraphoid Project and the IPD experiments. It was more efficient to convert seraphim into killing machines—they could be controlled and retained their manageable size. They were short-lived, but they were grounded unlike dragons.

“So it’s a given we’ve got to cleanse the crucibles,” Rose concluded. “Might be harder than it looks. Sorey’s resonance is the highest among us, and even he almost couldn’t handle it.”

“Sorey was—” Mikleo started.

“Sorey only barely made it. If you’re sent in, what are you going to do? You’ll turn into a hellion faster than any capured seraph,” Dezel bluntly said. “Rose or Alisha are sent in, they’ll be rendered unconscious before they’re eaten.”

Alisha stood up. “I’d rather not hear anymore about this. We should start moving. If we use the darkness, then there’s a lesser chance of Rolance finding us,” she said. Lailah agreed. The seraphim returned inside of their respective humans, who ate the rabbits then headed on their way after putting out their fire.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another kind of short chapter with tons of Hymmnos.


	38. Phase 2:  Through the Blighted Fields and into the Corrupted Past

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cosmosphere Level 2: Dezel
> 
> _ENTER root.mea_  
>  _SET G.W.C. 3600Hmag/s_  
>  _0x01_  
>  _SET StartF 19021Hz_  
>  _0x01_  
>  _COM:_  
>  _Ma num ra flip 0x0011000011_   
> _yor enter COSMOSPHERE.mea/._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another chapter written I think during physics, and it's more disjointed than others. I've found that if I've burnt myself out on writing about Sorey's team, I can sprinkle in some bad guy stuff!

Sorey, Rose, and Alisha fell to their knees when they arrived at Pearloats Pasture. The seraphim inside their bodies writhed in pain, transferring to the humans’ senses and making their human vessels feel nauseous and on fire.

_“It hurts…”_ Lailah whined.

_“We have to get to Pendrago fast,”_ Mikleo added.

Pearloats Pasture was just as vast as Meadow of Triumph, and with the blighting rain falling on their skin like needles, it seemed almost impossible to make it to the Capitol City before passing out from the pain.

“Why can’t we use Edna’s umbrella?” Rose asked.

_“Because this rain would eat through it just like it’ll eat through your skin,”_ Edna bit.

_“We can discuss all this when we get to the damn city,”_ Dezel snapped.

Sorey led the way, each step wracked with discomfort. He was worried that their clothes would get ruined, because if that happened, then they would really be in trouble of dying. Then he noticed as they braved the rain that the wheat was brittle. If they walked through the fields, the crops turned to ash, and the soil was dust. The hellions that roamed flattened paths through them, and it was heartbreaking to Alisha, who knew that the withered crops were the food supply of the city.

“That Cardinal Forton—why would she want to destroy the city’s harvest?” Alisha asked herself. “What does she hope to accomplish by starving her people? Anyone who loves their people wouldn’t do this.”

Lailah felt Alisha’s anger. It reminded her of Chancellor Bartlow and his schemes to control the seraphim. He ignored the people, tricking them into sacrificing themselves to become temporary warriors. He used the funds for the city to buy captured seraphim; he was a truly deplorable old man. But Lailah did her best to distract from that anger. When she was younger, Lailah would shower her with love and affection. Her jade eyes were always on Bartlow, her fires constantly burning within her heart. She had vowed that if he ever tried to hurt her, she would die protecting her. The incident that caused a rift between Mikleo and Sorey—it was the fire seraph’s one regret that she couldn’t fight back.

“Lailah, are you okay?” Alisha asked her. “I felt something change.”

_“I-It’s nothing,”_ Lailah told her. _“I was just…reflecting on things…”_

Alisha didn’t pry anymore. Lailah had always been one to avoid certain topics, and while at times it bothered her, she knew it was her personal business.

Thunder rumbled over the land. Lightning cracked the sky. Rose didn’t enjoy being out in the rain even though she had lived outside on the road for most of her life. Dezel was the one that comforted her. It was one of those rare instances that his kindness showed; however, he made sure to come off as aloof and disinterested afterwards to remind her that he didn’t like her company. On the other hand, Sorey and Mikleo and Edna were all used to thunder and lightning thanks to their backgrounds. In fact, the Shepherd and the water seraph couldn’t help but feel nostalgic. They remembered how Zenrus used to zap them when they were younger, Sorey more often than Mikleo. It brought back memories of when Elysia was invaded and of Zenrus being turned into a Seraphoid. Edna simply remembered her draconic brother whose domain heated the air so much that magnificent spontaneous bursts of electricity crawled through the clouds.

The Shepherd and his friends arrived at the imposing city walls that were showing signs of extreme weathering from the blighting rain. Sorey felt intense malevolence coming from the gates, a sickly feeling akin to that when Mikleo was tortured rising in his belly. The agony and desperation of the seraphim that were trapped inside swirled around mixing with the greed of humans. Dezel stepped out of Rose. He didn’t care that the rain was burning him; he was more afraid of what lie inside than that.

“Rose…” Dezel quietly, intimidatedly said. The vulnerability in his voice had reached a new high. He held onto the hood of her jacket. “Rose…please…protect me…”

_“Looks like the guard dog lost his teeth,”_ Edna teased.

_“You know what he’s going through,”_ Mikleo cautioned.

_“I know, but that doesn’t mean he can’t buck up. The enemy always picks the weaklings off first.”_

Dezel’s blindness probably tremendously augmented his perception of the negative emotions. Nevertheless, Rose reassured him that she would do everything in her power to keep him safe. Then she saw it—the Dezel that had been inside his soul space. He wasn’t the one that wished for her to go away. He was the Dezel that was glad she was near him and felt safe in her company.

After Dezel went back inside of Rose, the three of them ventured into Pendrago. They found that the place was worse than Ladylake and Marlind, where people used seraphim to promote business and work endlessly for them. Here in Pendrago, the seraphim wore not only shackles but also gags that prevented them from singing. Many of them had bruises and scars from their binds and from other nefarious actions and things.

Sorey willed himself to stand now. He had read about Pendrago in the Celestial Record that it was the Blessed Capitol City and that the largest shrinechurch resided there. Looking at it now, it couldn’t be farther from the truth. There was no blessing, the seraphim looked half-dead, and the people were emaciated.

“Sorey, we either need to find Sergei or go to the inn,” Rose panted while gripping her arms. “Dezel’s not feeling too great. I think his anxiety is getting to him.”

_“Sergei said to go to the inn and dry off. It’ll be beneficial to Dezel as well,”_ Lailah said. Rose knew more about Pendrago than either Sorey and Alisha, and she led them to the inn that was famous for its Drago Stew. _“Alisha, we should head to a room with Rose so we can help with Dezel.”_

Alisha nodded discreetly. They checked in. While Sorey ordered food for everyone, Rose and Alisha went up to their room. Dezel immediately came outside of Rose, lay on the bed, and clutched his arms. The princess fetched a glass of water while the assassin took Dezel’s hat. The wind seraph grabbed her wrist, and she was worried that he was angry at her. Instead he pulled her down next to him. Lailah, who had never seen Dezel like this, was as much surprised as Rose. Alisha came back with a pitcher of water to see what had happened.

“He’s really afraid, isn’t he,” she murmured so only Lailah could hear.

“Something terrible must have happened to him,” the fire seraph replied. “Let’s go help Sorey. They need to be alone.”

The door clicked softly after Alisha left with Lailah inside of her. Dezel scooted closer to his nervous human. Was he sleeping or trying to shut the malevolence out? She wanted to ask him to Dive, but she feared that his heart wouldn’t be able to handle having her inside in the midst of the evilness.

“Rose, I’m sorry,” he slowly, quietly told her. He hugged her. “I can’t hide it anymore. My Dives were fake. I didn’t really have any Paradigm Shifts after the first one.”

“I knew it,” Rose whispered.

“I wanted you to go as deep as you could to get the Armatus without learning what I’ve gone through. I don’t want you to see all the terrible things that have happened.” Rose stayed quiet. “But I have no choice now. You’re still on the second level, and I…I’m ready for you to see the real version of my world.”

“W-Wait, you mean you want to Dive now?” Rose panicked. “What if someone hears us? Or sees us? What if they take us away?”

Dezel curled up next to her pleadingly.

Rose was defeated by his wish to Dive and his pathetic form. They sat up on the bed with the Sacred Knife in hand. “ _Lukeim Yurlin_ ,” she whispered.

\---------------------------------------------------

Deep in Castle Diocese, a young-looking seraph was chained to the walls. The Cardinal Forton sat with her, reading to her like she was her daughter. The seraph, with pure white hair and see-through clothes that revealed her belt-like attire underneath, roused.

“What is it, my dear Lakra?” Forton asked.

“I can sense it,” she said. “There is a seraph Diving in the city.”

“What? We must find them.”

“No, this one appears to be intriguing. His is a familiar presence. I have felt this domain before, and these deliciously sad memories. He has returned after all these years. The key to our power.”

Forton closed her book. She had remembered that she had found a report of three seraphim escaping Pendrago’s IPD experiments. One of them had died trying to save another one, and the third was the exile. The Cardinal left the chamber to see her emperor.

\---------------------------------------------------

When Sorey and Alisha returned to the room with bowls upon bowls of Drago Stew, they were surprised to see that Rose and Dezel were Diving. Sorey was somewhat annoyed because the food they had gotten was expensive and surely wouldn’t taste good if it got cold. There was, however, nothing that they could do. The seraphim came out and Sorey and Alisha waited for the Dive to be completed.

“Dezel had been pretty forthcoming about Diving lately,” Sorey said. “I guess he finally got used to her being in his soul.”

“Maybe he just wants to feel her all the time within the same body,” Edna sneered.

“Edna, no,” Mikleo scolded.

“Well, we can never know since that’s a breach of privacy,” Lailah giggled.

\---------------------------------------------------

Rose entered the fourth level of Dezel’s soul space where Windur had opened a passage back to the second level. The master of the soul space had already explained the situation to it, and as a loyal servant, it did as it was asked to do.

Stepping through the light, the assassin was taken back to where the Dives began to go wrong. The world had expanded to more than just the cage, shackles and Stonehenge. There was a forest and mountains now, but according to Windur, Dezel was still locked away in his cage.

“I wouldn’t go there yet,” Windur told her. “He isn’t in any condition for you to coax him out. Find out why he’s there in the first place.”

“That’d be easier if I just ask him,” Rose sighed.

Not a moment later did a massive hellion ambushed her. She pulled her daggers, hesitating only when the hellion transformed into a human. She recognized the person.

“Prince Konan?” she uttered. “What are you doing inside of Dezel?”

“How dare you deny me your body,” Prince Konan growled. “And that blasted shitty seraph! This is why the seraphim should be slaves. They ruin everything! But not tonight, oh not tonight.”

Prince Konan turned back into a hellion. He launched a ball of malevolence at her, but she dodged by rolling out of the way. She took the chance to run away from the Stonehenge while the smoke from the attack covered her. She escaped to the forest, where there was a bread crumb trail to the mountains then to a flower field filled with roses. The roses were devoid of thorns, which allowed her to walk through them to a munching sound.

“That must be a Normin,” she grinned. “And Normin means stronger magic. Where are you?”

The munching sounds got louder as she got nearer. Finally, in the center of the flower field, she found a plump green Normin eating potato chips and cookies and ice cream. This was the Normin known as Fatty G.

“What are you looking at, kid?” the Normin belched.

“I…I can’t imagine Dezel having something like this inside of him,” Rose muttered. She never would have guessed there was a pig of a Normin inside of him or that it would reflect his inner feelings of gorging himself on food.

“Well, he does. Now if you would kindly leave, I have six more tubs to finish off.”

A sudden inexplicable feeling of dread overcame her. Prince Konan was behind her charging at full speed. Without a second to think, she grabbed up Fatty G and ran to the cage where Dezel was at the other end of the soul space. Prince Konan wouldn’t back down, though. He was gaining on her.

“Dezel!” Rose called. “Help us!”

The wind seraph trapped voluntarily in the cage raised his head from his knees. Fatty G tried to push itself through the bars only to get stuck halfway. Prince Konan lunged at Rose. She dove to the side, and the hellion crashed into the bars. Dezel backed away.

“Why did you lead him here?” he angrily questioned Rose.

Prince Konan regained his bearings. He turned to Rose, eyes glowing red and saliva dripping through his sharp teeth. “I won’t let you get away again. You will marry me, and you will give me children. All the childen that I want!”

“Dezel!” Rose instinctively called again.

“You’ve made a fool of me for long enough. A kept woman is a role best suited for one so wild. If you marry me, I’ll release your friends.”

“You put Dezel in that cage? He didn’t choose to be in there?”

“He chose to be in there, but I can rip him out into the open.”

Fatty G freed itself from the bars. “Dezel, man, come on! Your girl is in danger!” it urged. It pulled on his hand, kicked his thigh, and bit his arm.

Prince Konan pulled Rose back to the Stonehenge for the wedding ceremony and potential consumation. She tried to kick herself free, drop all her weight to slow him down, and tried to dig her nails into the concrete paths. Nothing stopped the hellion from dragging her back to where she had entered.

Dezel stood up in disbelief. Rose had been taken away thanks to his inactivity. He felt worthless. “She’s gone…I couldn’t do anything again…” he cursed dejectedly.

“You could have done something,” Fatty G rebuted. “You’re the one that put yourself in here. You want to help her, right? Then go out there and get her!”

Dezel gritted his teeth then opened his cage.

Meanwhile, Prince Konan haphazardly dressed Rose in a wedding gown. She was tied with a rope around her wrists and a steel ball on her ankle. The hellion turned back into his human form. He held her tightly by the arms.

“Oh, how I have waited for this day,” Prince Konan jeered. He hated the seraphim after they presumably sabotaged their wedding before. “I have waited so long for you, Rose, and now I finally have you right here. Do you have anything to say? A declaration of your sweet love maybe?”

Rose spat in his face. She didn’t know why this man was there in Dezel’s heart, and she wasn’t sure what his connection was to him. She had hope that Dezel would save her—she knew he would. But there was a bubble of fear in her chest. Prince Konan was wanting to have children. She was afraid that he would force her, and she was afraid that Dezel wouldn’t be able to stop him.

“Do I take this lovely Rose to be my lawfully wedded and completely subservient wife?” Prince Konan asked himself greedily. “I do. Do you take me to be your lawfully wedded and completely dominant husband?” he asked Rose.

The captured assassin dressed in pale pink struggled. Prince Konan grabbed her throat as a threat to make her say those two binding words. He squeezed tighter and tighter.

“I…I…”

“Wind Lance!” Dezel roared.

“Normin power!” Fatty G snarled behind him.

Prince Konan let Rose go as he cried out in agonizing pain when the spear of wind pierced his chest. Dezel scooped up Rose in his arms to bring her safely to his side while dragging the steel ball. He took one of her daggers, held her close, and held the weapon threateningly at the hellion prince. Dezel’s heart was beating so loud and hard in his chest, but Rose was flattered that he had gotten so excited about saving her.

“Wretched seraph…I’ll have your head on a silver platter…” Prince Konan sputtered. “Give me back my wife…!”

“She’s not your wife!” Dezel countered. Fatty G crossed its arms with a smirk. It was glad that Dezel was standing up to him. “Rose is Rose. She doesn’t belong to anyone! Not…not even me!”

Prince Konan laughed maniacally at him. He lunged at him; he wanted Rose even if he had to bite off pieces of her, but Dezel wouldn’t let him near them. “Vengeant Fangs!” he chanted as a set of beast-like teeth made of wind appeared and chomped on the hellion. “Stay away from her.”

Prince Konan’s mangled body lay at their feet. Rose was impressed that Dezel’s rage was so strong that it had essentially destroyed the hellion. She peered up at him, again seeing slivers of peridot between his hair instead of the usual blind grey.

“Dezel, thank you,” she bashfully said.

“I’m sorry that you had to go through all this,” Dezel softly said. “This is what I was afraid of. I won’t let anyone take you away from me.”

“Heh, that’s my line, ‘wretched seraph’.” She let out a hearty laugh before the light of the Paradigm Shift—the true Paradigm Shift—shone ahead of them. “Well, I guess it’s time for you to go to the next level. Promise you’ll be okay until next time?”

Dezel nodded sheepishly. Before heading into the light, he turned to her and said, “You look…b-beautiful.” Then he left her side. Fatty G followed after him as if to keep an eye on him.

Windur appeared not too long after the light disappeared. It congratulated Rose on a job well done, and it added that Dezel’s Paradigm Shift had reared a calmer and more homely man. Rose blushed a little. She returned to reality eager to see the fruits of her labor.

\---------------------------------------------------

Rose turned to find Sorey and Alisha with their seraphim all staring at her and Dezel. Then she turned to her wind seraph, who was positively glowing as he slept…which was strange because it didn’t happen before. His arm was around her waist, and he was almost smiling.

“I didn’t even know he was capable of smiling,” Sorey said half-jokingly.

“She looks like you and Meebo after you two Dive,” Edna observed much to Mikleo’s chagrin.

“We should leave so they can talk when Dezel wakes up,” Alisha hinted. She figured that at this point everyone should be familiar with the way things went after Dives.

After everyone left, Rose gently woke Dezel, who didn’t seem like he wanted to wake up from whatever dream he was having. He seemed to enjoy sleeping next to her, and she had to wonder why all of a sudden he was so comfortable. Was it because he was exhausted from the anxiety and fear that had been building with each step closer to Pendrago? He was so different during the Dive as well. He had been afraid but willing to save her. She wondered about Prince Konan and why he was there.

“Dezel, wake up,” she whispered. “We need to talk about the Dive. There are a lot of things that I don’t understand.”

The wind seraph sat up drowsily then slumped back down onto her shoulder. “I’m sorry you had to go through that,” he said depressively.

“I’m fine. I want to know about Prince Konan.”

“I don’t want to talk about it.”

“Why were you so scared of him?”

“He tried to take you away. He was going to hurt you. He was an evil man.”

Rose remembered Prince Konan, but she didn’t recall anything about him being evil or violent towards her. She actually didn’t remember much of anything from her past besides being raised by Mayvin and the other Scattered Bones members. She would save it for another time when Dezel was more open about his feelings.

“So…how was the Dive this time?” she asked.

“It was nice,” Dezel replied, falling back into a daze. He couldn’t find the confidence to tell her that it was an exhilarating experience that was much different from the first Dive.   
He was particularly happy that he—after so many years—got to see her in her wedding dress. It was a dream come true.

“Just nice? You said I was beautiful!”

Dezel only drowsily hummed, then she realized that he was getting sick again. The malevolence in Pendrago was worse than Ladylake this time around. Alisha asked if they could come back in—she allowed them—before Lailah, Mikleo, and Edna could rest. They were all feeling lethargic.

“We need to do something about the malevolence in Pendrago,” Sorey reminded her friends. “Let’s find Sergei as soon as possible and—”

“Right this way, captain,” the innkeeper said from the first floor. He led the captain to the second floor to Sorey’s room. With a gentle knock, he notified them that they had a visitor.

Sorey cautiously opened the door so that the innkeeper wouldn’t see the seraphim. Sergei was standing behind with a few parcels stacked in his hands. He dismissed the innkeeper, sneaking into the room with Sorey and laying the parcels out at the foot of the bed nearest to the door.

“Sergei, we were just about to come find you,” Sorey said with some apprehension. He didn’t think the captain would find them, and he was nervous that others knew about their presence in the Capitol City. “What are those?”

“My men wanted to send a few care packages after I told them about you all. A few of them have been to see the seraphim in containment. The malevolence has rendered them unconscious, so they thought that your seraphim would be the same. They’re meant for humans, but hopefully it can help them out.” Sorey opened one of the parcels to find medicinal herbs and other things to alleviate headaches and upset stomachs. He thanked the captain for his kindness. “I don’t mean to rush you all, but it would be better if we gathered at the Knights’ Tower to discuss the Cardinal Forton.”

Sorey agreed. He asked Mikleo and Edna to go inside, and once Alisha and Rose were ready, they followed Sergei to his headquarters.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dezel and Rose are getting closer! But it's only the second Dive!


	39. Phase 2:  Preparing to Infiltrate

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cosmosphere Level 5: Mikleo  
>  _Ma num ra chs pic wasara mea,_  
>  _en fwal syec mea._  
>  _Was yea ra chs mea yor_  
>  _en fwal en chs hymme._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one is based on Aurica's Dive, and it wasn't one of my favorite levels mainly because Aurica was just a little brat. Misha was a brat, too, but it was kind of plot relevant. Granted I also didn't do Aurica's route since I prefer Misha's Songs. Still, Mikleo I think fits Aurica better.

Sergei peeked around the corner of the stairs to check if the innkeeper was distracted. While the man was looking down behind the counter organizing some supplies, he led them out the door. The seraphim were inside their vessels, but that didn’t mean they couldn’t take precautions making sure that no one knew about them. Outside, he had to warn them:

“The seraphim in Pendrago are worse off than you think. I apologize that you have to see them like this. It pains me that I cannot help them when I’m on patrol.”

“There’s no point in apologizing when the entirety of humanity is torturing them,” Alisha told him with some frustration. “But I intend to start a movement to free them with my political power.” Rose elbowed her.

The captain blinked a few times. “Excuse me?” Sergei responded.

“My sister dreams of being a politician someday!” Rose lied. “Boy, wouldn’t you say she’s got the attitude for it!”

Sergei paid no mind to the strange statement after that. He, however, seemed to blame himself for letting the situation get so out of control. All the seraphim that were out on the streets in the blighting rain looked half-dead, their typically scarless skin dotted with bleeding holes and purple abscesses. Sorey pitied the humans that did this to them, and more than ever he wanted to nurse the suffering seraphim all back to health. Then he saw a small child—a boy of maybe four or five years old—approaching one of the older seraphim with a piece of bread and what appeared to be medicine. Sorey asked Sergei to stop walking for fear of startling the child.

“My parents don’t know about this,” he whispered. “They’re sleeping. It’s not much, but give it with your friends.” He handed the seraph the small morsel and the medicine. “If the knights say you stole it, tell them that I gave it to you. I’ll get in trouble, but you won’t.”

“Thank you, child,” the seraph coughed. “ _Was yea erra afezeria spiritum yor._ ” He took the bread and medicine slowly but graciously.

There it was again—that phrase that the seraph in Sanjiva had said to Sorey before she killed herself. The scene left a bittersweet feeling in his heart. There was no way that the seraph would survive, but he seemed appreciative that the boy had made an effort to right the wrongs of his parents.

 _“Humans are complicated creatures, aren’t they,”_ Mikleo softly said. _“Children are pure until the wickedness of the world corrupts them.”_

 _“And that wickedness finds its way into the hearts of vulnerable adults first,”_ Edna continued. _“The Cardinal—she understands how to manipulate the people. She’s got everyone in this illusion.”_

When the boy scurried back to his house before his parents could tell that he had gone out, Sergei continued to lead them to the tower where his squadron resided. The Shepherd and the Squires were met with mixed reactions with half of the knights happy and grateful and relieved that there was someone who wanted to stop the evil from spreading and the other half almost stalking them for their coveted seraphim. Sergei assured tham that no harm would come to them before glaring at those who desired the holy beings and threatened to strip them of their position if they acted on their greed.

“If you and your seraphim are comfortable with it, I would like everyone to be present,” Sergei said. He waited expectantly for a moment. “We’re not going to hurt them.” Sorey looked at Rose then Alisha, and all three of them gently asked their friends to come out. “You have my word.”

 _“I think we can trust them,”_ Lailah said, but there was a hint of uncertainty in her voice. She was trying to coax herself. Within Sorey, Edna didn’t seem to mind it, but Mikleo hesitated.

As such, Edna was the first to emerge, and the soldiers were surprised that such a small girl possessed the unimaginable power of the seraphim. Her piercing icy eyes burned holes through them as she hid behind her umbrella. She hated them even if they were going to help her. Lailah was the next to meet the Platinum Knights. They were smitten by her beauty, and she made it clear that she was already taken by latching onto Alisha’s arm with a smile. Mikleo and Dezel were wary about coming out. Just because the Platinum Knights didn’t attack Edna and Lailah didn’t mean that they would trap them when they were all present.

 _“Sorey…”_ Mikleo mumbled. Memories about the incident were coming back. His soul was trembling within the Shepherd. _“I…”_

 _“I can’t,”_ Dezel told Rose. The amount of people in the tower felt like an audience that had formed to watch him be ridiculed publicly. He ordered Rose to let Sergei know that he wouldn’t be coming out.

“For guys, they’re such babies,” Edna insulted.

“G-Given the situation…” Sorey tried to ease without saying too much.

“If they’re shy—” Sergei started. He raised his hand to command everyone to go outside.

Sorey shook his head before all of the knights left. “Mikleo…had some things happened…” He didn’t feel comfortable talking about it—even saying that much made him lurch with nausea as he recounted the ordeal.

Rose scratched her head. “Same thing with Dezel. He won’t tell me what happened though.” She could feel Dezel recoil deeper within her. “I think it’s the amount of people in this room that’s making them anxious. Don’t take it personally.”

“Actually, Sergei, do you have a separate room that I can use? Maybe I can talk to Mikleo and get him to meet you all,” Sorey offered. Sergei didn’t hesitate. He relinquished one of the infirmary rooms a couple floors down to him. “It shouldn’t take too long.” Sergei gave an affirmative nod then left him to his own devices. Sorey sat on one of the beds with its starched white sheets. Mikleo must have panicked again because Sorey’s entire body jolted with nausea once more. “It’s just me. Come on out.”

Mikleo appeared in a corner of the small room. The bed looked just like the table he had been strapped to albeit was more cushion-like. His face was haggard from the malevolence, but he refused to go near the bed.

“Please, Sorey…” he breathed. “Please don’t…” He pressed himself into the corner.

“I’m not going to hurt you,” Sorey said carefully to him. He slowly approached him like he was a lost kitten. “Everything is okay. No one wants to hurt you here, and I won’t let them do anything to you.” He tenderly cupped his cheek in his hand, and Mikleo nestled it. “Can I Dive into you? Maybe you’ll feel better if I cause a Paradigm Shift.”

“We’ll be vulnerable.”

Sorey quickly locked the door. “They can’t get in now.” He grinned at him.

“And if they have a key?”

“It’ll be okay.” Sorey pulled Mikleo close into his arms, kissing his temple and holding him until he felt safe enough to agree to a Dive. The Shepherd brought his water seraph to the bed. It was too small for them to lay side by side, which would have helped to calm Mikleo down, so Sorey hovered over him much to his nervousness. He whispered quietly in case anyone was trying to listen to them through the door, “ _Luzrov Rulay_.”

Mikleo Armatized with Sorey with some apprehension, his back arching before turning into an orb of light that sank into his chest. His Shepherd noticed only briefly that there was a look of calm on his seraph before he fell asleep.

\----------------------------------------------------

Sorey found his water seraph within the ethereal space of their souls again restraining himself from nearing him. His seraph was unsure about Diving while miles and miles in enemy territory, especially inside of a stronghold. The Shepherd feared that he was regressing to the self that had refused to let him in and had almost shut off his heart from him. Truthfully, he felt as if he had forced himself on him, and he suspected that was why Mikleo was so defensive. He could feel it resonating in his heart like the song of a scared lost child. He didn’t have to hear it to know those were Mikleo’s feelings.

 _“Are you mad at me?”_ Sorey asked, somewhat guiltily but confident that this was the right thing to do. _“If you are, I can enter your soul space, and you can kick me out if it’ll make you feel better.”_

 _“S-Stupid…”_ Mikleo barely said. _“I’m not comfortable doing it here, but I have no choice now. I’m just…I’m scared that it’ll happen again. And I’m scared for Dezel. I’ve never been this worried about someone else besides you. But…I can sense something terrible in this city.”_ Sorey threw his arms around him. _“Why am I so scared?”_

Sorey tightened his embrace. _“Because we share a dream, and we want to make the world a happy place for Edna. And we know that Rose wants what’s best for Dezel. And Alisha wants what’s best for Lailah. You’re not scared. You just care about everyone’s future.”_

Mikleo’s eyes welled with tears. It was sweet—just like Sorey to say something like that. It had been so long. He didn’t doubt that he thought about him every waking second, but with all that had been happening around them, he had forgotten what is was like to warrant concern from the one he loved most.

 _“Are you ready?”_ Sorey asked him.

_“Let’s go.”_

\----------------------------------------------------

Sorey entered Mikleo’s fifth level soul space where Gaine was waiting. Unsurprisingly, the Normin berated him upon arrival, but this time it seemed upset about the fact that he had been neglecting Mikleo. He wasn’t too distraught since he had heard the same thing from Edna personally, and while he had promised her that he would pay more attention, he felt like he was being pulled in all opposite directions.

“Uh, so you’re going to drop your boyfriend because the other woman wants you to? I thought you were better than that,” Gaine belittled. “Guess humans really are all shallow, two-faced, insatiable creatures—even the Shepherd.”

“Okay, that’s a little mean…” Sorey dejectedly said.

Gaine walked to his feet. It looked serious, concerned even. “I’m not saying you can’t Dive into anyone else. You should have noticed it.”

“That Mikleo is regressing…I know. I don’t want to feed into it.”

“You’re not. This region may be different, and he may not be able to be infected by Viruses here, but he’s not invincible to the malevolence. He’s the most susceptible, Sorey. Remember that. This territory poses a bigger threat than Hyland.”

Sorey nodded resolutely. How could he forget that Mikleo was so vulnerable? He wondered about his proximity to Dezel as well. They didn’t share a vessel, yet the wind seraph’s anxieties were contagious, reaching out to everyone—human and seraph—and threatening to corrupt them all. He didn’t believe that ostracizing him and Rose would solve anything, and he wanted Mikleo to feel safe. It wasn’t within his right to meddle in Dezel’s affairs, either; however, he knew that he wanted to help them in any way he could.

The Shepherd left the Stonehenge for a village some paces away. The village looked very different from anything he knew. In fact, he had never seen it nor read about it in the Celestial Record. There was a stone monument at the entrance that was in the process of being carved and polished. The only letters visible were C-A-M-L.

“This couldn’t be…Is this really Camlann?” Sorey asked dubiously. The more he reflected on what he had read in the Celestial Record, the more the pieces lined up. Camlann, as legends went, had been long destroyed. There was only one picture of the village in the book. It was roughly hand-sketched as if the author of the book had a hard time getting all the details just right. Perhaps that was what the interpretation in the book was to Mikleo. The finer details that were missing were translated to his soul space, influencing the world that lie halfway between reality and the deepest point in his heart thus far.

“Mikleo, are you here?” Sorey called out.

Lailah walked up to him, shushing him fervently and begging him to keep his voice down. Without a second to spare, a child version of Mikleo made his way from his house, the normal 17-year-old version of him behind him…wearing the Shepherd’s cloak?

“I was taking a nap, lady!” the child irritably said. “Shepherd, this lady is keeping me from taking a nap! She’s being mean to me!”

Shepherd Mikleo used his power. “Twin Flow!” he cried out, and in an instant, she had been washed away outside of the village. “The problem has been taken care of, young seraph,” he said with something of a posh accent.

The child pushed Sorey aside as he made his way to the sanctuary. Sorey grabbed Shepherd Mikleo’s wrist. “Mikleo, what is going on? Why are you the Shepherd?” he asked him.

“Do I know you? Leave me, for I must keep this seraph safe,” Mikleo told him.

He snatched his arm away from him, following the child version of himself to the sanctuary where the princess Alisha was praying. Of course, Sorey lagged behind, peeking through the large mosaic-like doors at the events that transpired within.

“Good morning, Seraph Mikleo, to what do I owe the pleasure today?” Alisha greeted kindly.

The child Mikleo flashed an angry glare. “Shepherd, the priestess is bothering me!” he cried.

Before Alisha could explain that she was not trying to disturb him, Shepherd Mikleo washed her away outside of the sanctuary. Sorey would repulsed by this behavior; it most certainly was not Mikleo. He hid in the bushes near the sanctuary as he watched the child Mikleo, with Shepherd Mikleo in tow, walk to the village general store where Rose and Dezel worked. Just like Lailah and Alisha, they were washed out of the store for some silly trivial reason. Edna, who worked at the village inn, was washed out, too.

“This is ridiculous,” Sorey sighed. He went to the inn while being careful not to step on anyone disillusioned by the tantrum. He entered the room with his hands on his hips. “Mikleo, what is the meaning of this?” he scolded. “You’re not being nice to your friends.”

Shepherd Mikleo stepped between them. “Who are you? Why are you being so mean to me?” child Mikleo sniffled. “Shepherd, he’s being mean to me! Make him go away!”

“Stop bothering the young seraph,” Shepherd Mikleo threatened. “Twin Flow!” Sorey was pounded with a torrent of water so powerful that he had to use all his power to stay still. Barely surviving the rush and now soaking wet, he continued to nag Mikleo. Shepherd Mikleo continued his vain attempts to flush him out of the inn.

“You’re so mean! Why can’t you just go away?!” the child Mikleo sobbed. He ran away from the inn back to the sanctuary even though Sorey told him not to go.

When the child Mikleo found respite in the sanctuary, he found someone else there. That person wasn’t supposed to be here, and a creeping fear planted a seed in his heart, festering apprehension until he couldn’t move. The old man with hair down to his shoulders turned around. A nasty greedy smile stretched his saggy mouth.

“There you are, wretched boy,” the old man said. He reached for him.

Meanwhile, Sorey was trying his best to keep the Shepherd Mikleo from leaving. He demanded that he tell him what was going on. Why was Mikleo a bratty child? Why was he the Shepherd? Why was he attacking everyone in the village?

“I’m doing my job as the Shepherd and protecting the only seraph in the village,” Shepherd Mikleo argued. “Now let me go! He could be in danger!”

“But this doesn’t make sense! Why is he like this?”

“Get out of my way!”

“Tell me!”

A horrific scream echoed from the sanctuary, and Shepherd Mikleo and Shepherd Sorey ceased their bickering at once. They raced to the holy ground where they found that the old man was lifting the child Mikleo by his neck.

“Chancellor Bartlow?!” Sorey gasped.

“Evil fiend!” Shepherd Mikleo barked.

The child Mikleo struggled in his grasp. He scratched at Bartlow’s hand in a futile effort to loosen his grip. Choking, he begged for their help.

“Let him go!” Shepherd Mikleo ordered. “Twin Flo—”

“No, don’t!” Sorey interrupted. “If you attack Bartlow, you’ll hurt Mikleo!”

Bartlow laughed ominously. He relished that the Shepherds couldn’t save the child. He vowed to break the child seraph and throw him into the slave ring. He even insinuated that there were such depraved people that would have loved to ravage him. “This place used to be full of seraphim, and luckily I found the last one here!”

Sorey and Shepherd Mikleo were trapped. They didn’t want to hurt the child Mikleo, but they couldn’t let Bartlow get away. As they watched in horror at the boy struggling, they heard him weakly say:

“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. I don’t want to die.”

Sorey felt a familiar aching in his chest akin to what he felt when he was forced to watch Mikleo be beaten and electrocuted while being powerless to stop it. He didn’t want a repeat of that traumatic event. If he didn’t save him now, Mikleo would fall back into the darkness that threatened to swallow him back then.

“Shepherd Mikleo, I have a plan, but I need you to trust me,” Sorey told him. “I’m going pull him free, but I need you to surround me with water and hide my presence. If I can sneak around behind Bartlow, then I can save him.”

“This is a terrible plan,” Shepherd Mikleo responded.

“It’s the only thing that will work. Please, I’m sure you can craft a Song to do this.”

Shepherd Mikleo was unsure about his ability. After all, he wasn’t a seraph…he wasn’t a seraph, but the Mikleo whose soul encompassed everything in this world was. He agreed to the plan. He chanted out:

_Rrha ki ra exec burle hymmnos sos na aulla cerchio!_

Water created a vortex around Sorey, and as the sunlight shone through the stained glass of the sanctuary, it disappeared along with him. Bartow was taken aback, fearing the Shepherd hidden somewhere in the large room.

“Where is that boy?” he grumbled as he looked in every direction. He suddenly felt a sharp kick to his back, which forced him to release the child Mikleo when Sorey reappeared. “You little, impudent maggot!”

“Mikleo, now!” Sorey called out. He leapt out of the way with the child in his arms. Shepherd Mikleo fired his Twin Flow attack at Bartlow, stunning him long enough for them to make an escape.

Sorey escaped the sanctuary for the Stonehenge, Shepherd Mikleo at his heels. The Paradigm Shift had opened, and its brilliant light was a relief to see. Everyone was left disgruntled in the village. Mikleo and his younger self, however, didn’t seem to be bothered since they had acquired a new Song.

Sorey lowered the child Mikleo to the ground. The boy hugged him. “I’m sorry I did those mean things to you,” he sniffled. “I didn’t want to be hurt like that old man did to the real me. But you’re not a bad guy. You saved me.”

“Thank you, Sorey,” Shepherd Mikleo said. “Without you, this seraph would have been lost.”

“Don’t thank me. I’m glad you learned a new Song! And it looks so cool, and it sounds so cool! It’s just so cool!” Sorey joyfully celebrated. He patted the child Mikleo’s head before sending them towards the light of the Paradigm Shift. He was then overcome with a sense of guilt. “To think that that fear was still so deeply rooted in his heart.”

“Now you understand that he’s still afraid,” Gaine said. It came from behind one of the boulders wearing its displeasure on its face.

“But I still don’t understand why it was like this. Why did he see himself as a child and as the Shepherd?”

“That’s for you to find out on your own time.”

\-----------------------------------------------------------

Sorey woke up very close to Mikleo on the bed. He heard the faint whispers of the Platinum Knights outside the door. He could only guess that Rose and Alisha dissuaded them from breaking it down to make sure they were okay. If Mikleo heard them, he would regress even more.

The water seraph roused. “Sorey, are you okay? It feels like things were a little more hectic than usual,” he sleepily said.

“It was,” Sorey admitted. His eyebrows furrowed. “You were always scared, weren’t you…about what Bartlow did to you and having it happen again.”

Mikleo looked down. He nodded slightly. “It was—I thought I was going to die.” He grasped Sorey’s hand that was around his chest as they lay together. “It’s terrifying to think that death is always around the corner.”

“But there were other things.” They sat up and turned towards each other, curling up their legs on the bed so Mikleo could see the appreciative shimmer in his companion’s emerald eyes. “You were also a Shepherd, and even though you were a handful for a child, you depended on the Shepherd to protect you. It was almost as if…”

“I feel like a burden,” Mikleo suddenly stated. “I know I am. I don’t want to be one, but that’s just how it is, right?” He gave a tearful smile. “I’m sorry.”

“W-Wait, no, you went the wrong way with that!” Sorey pouted, which Mikleo couldn’t stop himself from giggling. “You’re not a burden! But I understand why the child was there.” Sorey took up Mikleo’s hands. It didn’t matter how often he had to remind him, he loved being able to show him that he would support him and protect him. “I won’t let anything happen to you. And if you’re worried about Dezel, I’ll make sure he’s okay, too. I promise!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Uploaded this one earlier in the day because I've got tests and quizzes to study for next to setting up elections for my club. And well, things are going to start getting interesting soon enough.


	40. Phase 2:  Operation Infiltration

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sorey and company infiltrate the Pendrago Shrinechurch after Rose and Dezel have a discussion about their Dives.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hiiiii guuuuys...I swear I was going to upload yesterday, but then I got into a huge binge for Okami and just finished it with 94% of the trophies. With all the Stray Beads collected, I don't have to suffer frustration and I can do other things! More good news--I may be able to produce the Songs for this story sooner than expected! Isn't that exciting? I also have a hefty supply of art (REFERENCED FROM AR TONELICO) that I...may or may not put on Tumblr. Depends how I feel. But yeah, I'm feeling great about everything now!

Rose heard Dezel’s name behind that locked door while she prevented the Platinum Knights from breaking and entering on such a critical moment for her friends. She wondered what they were talking about and if Dezel would be willing to Dive again soon. Assuming that Mikleo’s hesitation had been remedied for the while, it would have proved to be useful for the wind seraph as well.

“Once Sorey and Mikleo come out of there, do you think I could have a few minutes to talk to Dezel?” Rose asked Sergei. 

The captain didn’t protest; he wanted to do whatever was necessary to meet the two seraphim that were trying to avoid his company. He thought that maybe their attitudes towards them would give insight to the severity of the situation surrounding not only Rolance but Hyland as well. He was still bothered by what Alisha had said earlier but talking to her was too much for him. Even if she was already taken by a seraph—a female one at that—he found it difficult to wrap his head talking to such a beautiful and petite girl just out of the blue about politics.

The lock clicked, and the door opened. Mikleo tightly held Sorey’s cloak like a security blanket. He had promised that he would at least meet the man that had spared them and had given them an entry into the castle. He didn’t have to do it without some sort of consolation—that was his only condition.

“Meebo finally got over it,” Edna snuffed.

“It must have been hard for him to agree,” Lailah commented.

“They conducted a Dive, and that’s really all you need to convince a seraph to do something like meeting people.”

“Edna, you make it sound like a bad thing.”

Sorey held onto Mikleo’s hand as well. Anything to make him feel comfortable to be around the people that could either treat him like a precious treasure or like a machine. “This is Mikleo,” Sorey introduced. The water seraph tried to show he could be independent, but some of the men looked at him with contempt. Sergei stepped forward, knelt in front of him, and pledge his allegiance to him.

“Lord Mikleo, it is an honor to meet and work with you,” he said with the utmost respect that the seraph wasn’t quite sure how to show his appreciation. “I swear, by the steel of my blade, that I will not let harm come to you.”

Rose nudged Sorey to let him know that she would be a short while with Dezel. She decided not to Dive into him since she would be met with much more opposition than Sorey had with Mikleo. Subsequently, Sorey asked Sergei to take him and Alisha back to the drawing room to further assess what he had seen in Pendrago thus far.

The assassin closed the door behind her, locking it just like Sorey had to give some sort of security. Dezel stepped out of her, but she couldn’t tell if he was upset or not. He just stood there with his arms crossed and his lips pressed together showing his refusal to talk. The assassin let out an exasperated sigh; she had her work cut out for her. Then she thought that if Sorey could do it, why couldn’t she?

“Oh, right, because he Dived,” she muttered to herself.

Dezel was much different from just an hour or so ago at the inn, where he had agreed to let her see his true feelings. His heart was no doubt precious to her, but she had to bend and break him a little bit if she wanted to make any progress. And part of her hated putting that kind of pressure on him even though it had to be done.

“What do I have to do?” she asked him. It sounded harsher than what she wanted. Then again, perhaps it would work in her favor. “Do I need to get on my knees and beg?”

“Don’t be ridiculous,” Dezel retorted. “Just leave me out of all this. I didn’t want to come here knowing what they do to IPD seraphim. What do _I_ need to do to make _you_ understand? The only thing I want is revenge. I want to make them pay for what they did to him.” He sat at the foot of the bed with his hat in his hands. “I have to stay alive so I can accomplish my mission. Being here in the stronghold of this godforsaken city puts all that in danger—Diving specifically here and now is dangerous.”

Rose was silent, but it was a different kind of silence than he was used to. She sat opposite of him on the bed. Sensing a slight change in the atmosphere, he wondered if she was angry with him. He didn’t care if she was; however, there was a part of him that always did.

“So that’s what that Dive was about,” Rose quietly said. “Guess you realized I’m smarter than I look. You’re mean, Dezel, for playing a girl’s heart like that.”

Dezel was now worried that he made her cry again.

“I can’t make you Dive for any other reason but to accomplish your goal, and I’m willing to help you. But just so you know, those Dives—what I see and experience in them—I’m happy that I’m more important in them than in reality.” Standing up and wiping her eyes, forgetting that he couldn’t see her face but feel her aura in the air, she faced him. “I want to help you with your mission, and I don’t care if you’re really just using me to get stronger for that reason. In my eyes, our Dives suggest other things that you can’t hide.” She headed for the door. “And like it or not, Sergei and his men need to see you. We need to gain their trust, so we can’t hide anything from them that they will easily be able to figure out. Have faith in me, Dezel—I _won’t_ let them touch you.”

The wind seraph caught her by the wrist before she opened the door. “I will never understand you,” he said.

“It’s on you to change that,” Rose replied. She opened the door to an empty hall. “You have to meet them. After that, just stay close to me. Even though Sergei’s men are going to help us, there are still some that have other interests. Sergei can only keep them at bay for so long. If they threaten to turn you in, don’t hesitate to fight back.”

Dezel was conflicted about his relationship with Rose. He had to get his revenge and he didn’t care what he had to do to make sure of it. He also didn’t want to use the assassin for such selfish reasons, not when she was still trying her best to keep him safe from other humans. He followed her out of the infirmary to the drawing room, all the while reading her from behind and attempting to figure her out. He wanted to reach for her and hold her, but why? Was he still scared? He had to be because there was always that lingering threat that someone would tie him up and sell him to a knight or the Church. That feeling, though, was minimized when he was standing next to her. He hated it. He hated his powerlessness.

“Is this the wind seraph?” Sergei asked. Dezel then recognized that he was standing among the Platinum Knights.

“Yup, this is Dezel,” Rose introduced. Sergei held out his hand to shake it, but Dezel shrinked away. “No offense, but he still doesn’t trust your company. Don’t try to force him to like you. It doesn’t work too well. I know from experience.”

“Duly noted.”

The captain beckoned them to join Sorey and Alisha to discuss the plans. Mikleo still stuck close to Sorey, but Dezel wouldn’t be caught dead knowingly leaning on Rose. Except he reflexively did. Lailah simply mimicked Alisha’s regal posture and confidence despite that she was still in disguise as a merchant. Edna plainly didn’t care. In the end, Dezel—unconsciously behaving like the other seraphim—found himself holding Rose’s hand, and she didn’t mind it. She smiled discreetly; if he knew how to manipulate her, she could manipulate him back albeit not just for her own personal gain.

“Mission briefing shall begin now,” Sergei announced to his men and Sorey’s entourage.

“You guys didn’t talk while we were sorting things out?” Rose whispered to Sorey and Alisha.

“Sorey insisted we wait,” Alisha told her. “If you and Dezel didn’t get the information, then you two would have somehow ended up in some trap.”

“Do you take me for an idiot?” Dezel growled at her.

There was reason to suspect Cardinal Forton for the blighting rains according to Sergei. They had come when she came into power after Pope Masedra disappeared, and it was particularly harmful to the seraphim. She was the one to experiment on the seraphim, and she was the one that always suggested leaving them outside. The emperor had his hands in it as well, but to overthrow the king in the middle of preparations for war with Hyland was suicidal. Another more concrete piece of evidence was the disappearance of a man named Boris. Boris was Sergei’s twin brother. He worked under his older brother, and he was the last one with his squadron to go after the Cardinal Forton on a covert operation. It had been about a month since he had gone missing and three weeks since Sergei had last inquired about his whereabouts. Cardinal Forton always waved him away, and the emperor would avoid his questions.

“The lack of concern for one of the Platinum Knights most elite indicates some amount of guilt,” Sergei said. He looked over at a blond-haired knight.

That knight, Targana, offered that perhaps it was because the plight was emotionally charged, and he already didn’t hold Cardinal Forton in high regard.

“By law, if someone goes missing inside the city and is not found in 48 hours—”

“Then we file for a missing persons report. But suppose that Cardinal Forton and the emperor have other things to worry about? What if they found him gallavanting in the city and sent him out on a mission?” Targana continued. He stood up, flipping his hair back. “Forgive me, Captain Strelka, I don’t mean to undermine you, but simply going on unfounded and biased allegations could spell the end for you.”

Targana was as tall as Dezel but suave and calculating and pretty as a doll. He looked out of place among all the other knights. This stark contrast made all the seraphim uncomfortable, especially the blind wind seraph.

Sorey raised an eyebrow to all of this. “Sergei, we can go into the shrinechurch and investigate,” he promised.

Targana eyed him. The kind Shepherd purposely ignored him; he thought it was strange that a knight was trying so hard to be the contrarian. When he felt that glare still on him after a couple minutes, he flashed him a look that was devoid of anger or malice. He looked at him with a thirst for justice.

“Sorey, are you sure?” Sergei asked.

“Of course! You’re scared for your brother. You can’t go because they could do something to you. We can go instead.”

“But what of your seraphim? And the fact that you’re the Shepherd?”

Mikleo faced him. Edna and Lailah also peered at him. Dezel willed himself to stay quiet. There was a sudden pressure on his shoulders like the world was on his back.

“It’s risky; however, we can’t just ignore this. It’s not within my right to just march into Pendrago and solve all the problems, but innocent lives—human and seraphim—are at stake. We can’t leave this alone.”

Sergei agreed to let Sorey go. Rose and Alisha had no objections since they knew that Sorey’s goal was to promote coexistence between the two races, and while the seraphim were wary of taking this job, they offered their support. Even Dezel promised his power to their cause. The Shepherd took his leave with his friends behind him and the Squires’ seraphim inside their respective partners, and Targana followed him shortly after requesting to be excused.

Mikleo and Edna sensed the knight while Rose pretended not to notice. When they were at the inn’s door, they confronted him. “How long do you plan on following us?” the assassin asked.

Targana flipped his blond hair. “Forgive me for not addressing you earlier,” he smiled. “I have a few questions. Why do you have seraphim with you? What makes you different from the people that you are going against?”

Sorey turned to him. Mikleo and Edna flanked his sides, their weapons within reach. “I have lived with Mikleo ever since we were babies. He’s become my one and only and the reason I strive for peace between humans and seraphim. To realize this dream, we’ve had to travel far and wide, and we needed help along the way. Edna joined us after Hyland took her brother’s soul. Alisha and Lailah want to stop the slavery, and Rose wants to help Dezel, who is blind.”

 _“Stop making me sound like an invalid,”_ Dezel grumbled.

“We have seraphim with us because it’s a physical manifestation of our trust and love for each other. That’s why we’re different from the ones we want to stop.”

Targana ground his teeth like it was disgusting to listen to him speak. “And why are you feeding into Sergei’s paranoia?” he asked.

Alisha was getting annoyed. “Wouldn’t you be worried about your brother if he suddenly disappeared?” she interrogated.

“I only ask because you have only just arrived in Pendrago, yet you act as if you understand our city. I would be careful if I were you. You’re in a monster’s den of IPDs waiting to lash out.”

Targana returned to Knight’s Tower while Sorey, with Mikleo and Edna going back inside, led his friends into the inn. They ordered enough bowls of Drago Stew for everyone, and when they asked why they wanted so many bowls, Rose explained she was a heavy eater. Then they were chastised about the bowls left before.

“W-We had business to attend to!” Alisha told them. “S-She was sick!”

Regardless, they received their bowls and a room. Upstairs, the seraphim came out and enjoyed their meals. Alisha and Rose ate with them, but Sorey couldn’t. Something was making him feel weird and sick to his stomach—was it their encounter with Targana? He was curious about their connections with the seraphim, but he was strangely blasé about the case of Boris. His attitudes were very disjointed, making him suspect something was happening behind the scenes.

“You sensed it, too?” Dezel asked.

“Something was off,” Sorey replied quietly. “But I didn’t sense malevolence. I don’t understand.”

“Perhaps he has a goal that he feels completely committed to?” Lailah wondered aloud.

Rose listened to Dezel and Sorey exchange ideas about Targana. She munched quietly since this was the most that her seraph had communicated with someone that wasn’t her. Dezel talked about Targana’s opposition to Sergei. Sorey questioned why he would be so calm. Could it be his personality? Or was there something more? The assassin silently placed her bowl down.

“I’m going to run down for another bowl,” she said.

“One bowl, wasn’t enough?” Mikleo questioned her.

“I wasn’t joking when I said that I’m a heavy eater.”

She left the room.

Dezel seemed startled when she had announced she was going for more, and even more so when he realized that she lied. “Where is that idiot going?” he panicked. He shot out of the room before Sorey and Alisha could hold him back. “Rose! Rose, where the hell did you go?!” he yelled.

“A seraph?” the innkeeper gasped.

Dezel dashed out of the inn without regard that the innkeeper was preparing to call soldiers to arrest him. He called out Rose’s name over and over through the pitter-patter of the rain, the worry and anxiety filling his heart. He tried to read the bitter wind. It made him sick when it was so thick with blight, malevolence, and stale air. His heart was pounding from the evilness rising from the ground. His stomach was churning. Then he finally located her at the top of a turret overlooking the northern district.

“Here’s what I can get you right now,” Eguille said. “He’s—”

“R-Rose…!” Dezel coughed.

“You have to get into the shrinechurch and judge her.”

“Getting in won’t be a problem. If she’s as strong as you say she is, we’re going to be in trouble if we get caught,” Rose replied.

“He went this way!” a soldier alerted.

“Whatever you do,” Eguille continued.

“Rose!” Dezel rasped.

“Don’t let them catch the seraphim,” Eguille finished.

Dezel was doubled over in pain at the bottom of the turret when Rose turned to see him. Eguille had disappeared into the hazy darkness of the rain. The soldiers were behind the wind seraph with their swords drawn.

“Dezel…” Rose mouthed.

“Come with us quietly, seraph,” the soldier commanded. “And you’ll be spared.”

“Blow them away.”

Suddenly, a surge of wind flung the entire company away like a cannon. “Horizon Storm!” he roared. The soldiers were disoriented and unable to get back up. Dezel, too, was paralyzed with fatigue. “Rose…please…help…” he panted. Without the energy to move, he crumbled to the ground. His body felt hot.

“Can you go inside?” she asked him after running to his side and holding him on her lap. Dezel couldn’t speak but grunted in pain. “I’ll take that as a no. Alright, up and at ‘em.”

“N-No, you can’t go back to the inn,” Dezel almost inaudibly warned her. “They’ll be looking for me.”

“Well, at least you can talk. Get inside,” Rose said. Dezel did as he was told, which rendered her body heavy.

She ran down the turret. Taking his advice, she moved past the inn and went straight to the shrinechurch. She only hoped that Sorey and Alisha were already there yet doubtful that they would have that forethought. She kept running until she burst through the shrinechurch doors. Luckily for her, there Sorey and Alisha were waiting.

“Where have you been?” Alisha asked her. “We got chased out of the inn!”

“I heard,” Rose said. She looked sick, and they immediately knew it was because of Dezel. The wind seraph came out to give her body a break from the ailments brought on by the wickedness in the city.

The shrinechurch was the largest shrine in the land, and rightly so because it was the shrine where the Great Lord Maotelus was worshipped. Sorey and Mikleo had read about him countless times, and while they knew as much as the Celestial Record had told them, the every day excitement of avoiding either government had distracted them from learning more about him. There were children playing at the front of the grand hall, but they wouldn’t be for long. The thousands of knights that weren’t under Sergei’s direction were all looking for Sorey, Alisha, and Rose. There was a high chance that they would be caught in the middle except…

Sorey suggested they go as far as they could into the shrinechurch. As they approached the altar that stood there in the center of the first hall, they realized that the children were stone statues. Breathing stone statues.

 _“We’ve already been found,”_ Edna stated. _“And…the malevolence here…it’s sickening…”_

Sorey didn’t waste any time. He went to the back of the shrinechurch through one of the two doors on either side of the altar to the next hall and the ancient monolith with unknown symbols. Had he been able to read what it said, he would have taken the time to. The language wasn’t Hymmnos or the ancient tongue. In that room behind the altar, there was a priest with a fearful expression. He was turned to stone as well. He wasn’t breathing.

“What’s with these statues?” Sorey asked.

 _“If we venture any farther, we may end up like them,”_ Lailah said. She urged that they leave immediately. _“The malevolence here—it’s concentrated into a domain.”_

There was nowhere else to go; the malevolence was far too strong to go deeper into the shrinechurch. Sorey guided his friends back to the front of the building where a distinguished-looking woman waited for them. Her hair was wrapped under a large cap save for a long braid hanging to her waist, and her robes swayed on the ground. She held a cane that had been carved into the shape of a cobra.

“Is that the Cardinal?” Sorey whispered. He kept his hand on his sword in case she attacked them.

“Looks like it,” Rose answered.

The Cardinal Forton sneered at them. “I’m surprised that a terrible trio of children thought they could find refuge here. How cute.” She waved her cane like a staff, and the seraphim were yanked out of their humans against their wills. “The reports were right. You three are smuggling slaves. Hmph, the Shepherd, a lowly merchant, and the princess of Hyland.” She smirked at Alisha, who couldn’t believe they found out her identity.

“S-Sorey…” Mikleo heaved.

“What’s this? You have an IPD seraph as well.”

Rose pulled out her daggers. “Heard you guys really want IPD seraphim,” she told her. “Why is that?”

“Insolent child, you wouldn’t understand. But the princess—you know very well.”

Alisha was confused. Did she know about Bartlow? Or was she bluffing?

“Rose, we need to go,” Dezel wheezed.

“You’re not going anywhere, IPD. We need your kind.”

“Yeah, over my dead body.”

Mikleo used his newest Song to form a veil of water called the Spectral Cloak around them. It hid them from the Cardinal Forton’s piercing gaze, allowing them to sneak out of the shrinechurch. She didn’t try to follow them, though. She had to see Lakra again.

Meanwhile, Sorey and his friends made their way back to the city gates. There were guards everywhere waiting to arrest them. “Mikleo,” Sorey turned to him. “Are you feeling up to using that Song again?” Mikleo nodded, but his face told a different story. “On second thought…”

“There’s no other way,” Mikleo urged. “I can do it. I know I can…” He tightened his grasp on his staff.

“Forget it, Meebo,” Edna countered. “You only managed to use it back there because the door was right behind her. You can’t carry us to the gates.”

At that moment, smoke bombs exploded, creating a screen that could cover them. Eguille, the Ayn twins, and Rosh all loomed over the edges of the roofs of the building around them. The assassin took that chance and led them through their smokescreen, reaching outside of Pendrago in seconds while being undetected by the hellionized guards even while opening and closing the gate.

“I’ll have to thank them later,” Rose smiled.

The rain hadn’t let up, and the seraphim couldn’t stay out. After they went some distance from Pendrago, Edna used what was left of her energy to form a shelter of rock. Lailah made a small fire. It was decided that they would allow themselves some time to rest until they felt sure that the entire city was no longer on alert.

Edna lay next to Mikleo, who curled into Sorey. Lailah held Alisha before dozing off. Dezel squatted next to Rose as she was sitting near the entrance into the shelter. She had volunteered to keep an eye out for the guards, a duty that she often did when she was preparing for a contract killing.

“Why don’t you go to sleep?” Dezel softly asked.

“Someone’s got to watch,” she said curtly.

He paused. “Do you want to Dive?”

“Now? We’re not exactly safe, and now the Cardinal wants to kill us.”

Dezel was silent. “Please…” he said while reaching for her hand before stopping. He realized that she would think he was tricking her again. “I’m sorry for manipulating you earlier. You really can go deeper.” His voice was soft and sincere.

“Why, so you can get mad again?” Rose sighed. It was counterproductive to refuse to Dive into a seraph that was actively trying to get stronger. “If you get mad again…”

“Once you see the next level, you’ll understand.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Then next chapter will be uploaded much sooner than the others because it's only 8 lines of text, but it's also in Pastalie Hymmnos. The basic translation for the next chapter will be in the following chapter.


	41. Phase 2:  Deleted

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cosmosphere Level 3: Dezel
> 
> _ENTER root.mea_  
>  _SET G.W.C. 3600Hmag/s_  
>  _0x01_  
>  _SET StartF 19021Hz_  
>  _0x01_  
>  _COM:_  
>  _Ma num ra flip 0x0011000011_  
>  _yor enter COSMOSPHERE.mea/._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This entire chapter is written in Hymmnos, but DO NOT WORRY! The basic translation will be supplied in the next chapter. This is simply to reflected exactly what Rose is experiencing within Dezel's heart. There was also a very tiny change to this chapter to fit into AO3's formatting. Fun fact: Accordingly to the Conlang wikia for Hymmnos, the less than and greater than symbols are quotation marks. They've been replaced with parentheses to accommodate the line.

_Balduo. Zash. Balduo. Xevxl._

_xN rre herr mNfNlN akata innna hes._  
_xA rre harr yNzNtN akata ttu rNfNmN cest._

_xA rre diasee jNdIrNeh._  
_xA rre diasee qIlUsO ess shell._

_xI rre ceku fIrUlI sos diasee._  
_xI rre ceku auNk manac Lafarga._  
_xE rre Lafarga jEwA du diasee ut grandee._

_xN rre Rose hlNss hes ttu xE rre harr gAwEnNeh tes siann pitod herr._

_(Thank you for your hardwork.)_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really have a love-hate relationship for New Testament of Pastalie. It's super pretty, but it's so much more confusing.


	42. Phase 2:  Revelations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A new party member joins, and we learn a little more about Dezel's past.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HUUUUUUUUUUH...in the final weeks of this semester and graduation is near! It's both scary and great! Maybe more time for writing! Maybe less time for writing! The future is full of possibilities!
> 
> TRANSLATION FOR THE LAST CHAPTER IS IN THIS CHAPTER.

“Shepherd, wake up,” a husky familiar voice whispered. “Damn it, man, wake up! This is important!”

Sorey slowly roused to find the man hovering over him. The fire cast shadows on his face, and it startled him. “Zaveid?” he uttered. “What are you doing here? What about Lady Shurelia?” He averted his gaze to Rose’s Armatized body. “They’re Diving?”

Zaveid snapped his fingers. “Stay focused,” he ordered. The sense of urgency in his voice wasn’t anything that he had heard before. He explained what had happened inside Eolia and how all the parts and communities that worked to keep it functioning were in danger. “The seraphim in Hyland are as good as dead. We have to get back to Shurelia and wake the Tower up.”

Sorey was horrified. His heart ached with such a harrowing predicament. On one hand, Shurelia had sacrificed herself to seal Mir within the Tower. On the other hand, if they went on allowing Shurelia to sleep to confine the Mother Virus, the seraphim would lose half of their arsenal. Humans would be able to strike them down. But how could they wake her?

“There’s a Song that counteracts the one she used. I don’t know where it is, though. I think I have an idea, but…getting there is going to be difficult without a vessel,” Zaveid told him.

Sorey knew the day would come when he and Zaveid would have to form a pact. He looked down at Mikleo, who slept peacefully next to him. Then he glanced at Edna, who wouldn’t be pleased to be working so closely with Zaveid. The exile wanted to protect the seraphim just like they wanted to, and if he tried to go on his own, something would get him whether it be humans or the malevolence. He carefully wiggled out of his spot so he wouldn’t wake his friends. It was a troubling decision to take on another seraph, but he couldn’t ignore Zaveid when he had helped him out in the past.

“Lailah, are you awake?” Sorey whispered. Lailah opened her eyes slowly and sleepily. “I need to make another pact.”

\--------------------------------------------

Inside the shared soul space, Dezel stood in front of Rose rigidly. His human couldn’t understand what had happened. It was so disjointed. It was in Hymmnos which she couldn’t hope to learn. The only hints that she had about what had happened were the two images. Dezel had been a child when he was captured. Someone had saved him.

_“What happened?”_ she sincerely asked. _“Who saved you? What happened to that guy?”_

_“It’s just as you saw,”_ Dezel answered. She wouldn’t settle for a vague response. _“I was a child when they caught me. They did experiments on me. I befriended another seraph, and he helped me escape with the Exile, who taught me how to fight. The Exile then rescued him, and I lived with my friend. Then he was murdered in cold-blood. I’ll get my revenge on the one who killed him.”_

Dezel stayed quiet as Rose absorbed the information. She wanted to know how that seraph was killed, what experiments they conducted on him, and if he was still willing to let her help. But she couldn’t ask these questions. The only thing she could do was hug him long and tight.

_“What are you doing?”_ he asked nervously.

_“What does it look like? I’m hugging you. I never knew you were this hurt. I’m sorry, Dezel.”_

_“Why are you sorry?”_

_“Because you had to go through a lot, and I…I should have tried to understand. Instead, you had to show me such horrible things.”_

Dezel hesitantly reciprocated the hug. He didn’t blame her for getting so emotional. It was time to wake up. It was unconventional to talk about the Dive while still Diving, but for this particular level, he preferred it that way. No one else could know what happened to him.

\--------------------------------------------

Mikleo and Edna were searching for Sorey when Rose and Dezel de-Armatized. Alisha and Lailah were gone, too. Had Rolance soldiers come for them? But why would they when Dezel was the only IPD seraph among them and thus more valuable?

Edna heard Lailah’s voice behind the shelter. She led the others there to find Sorey and Zaveid standing with the fire seraph. Alisha watched them; her face seemed pained.

“ _Rrha ki erra crannidale dea chiess ture mean._ My true name is…” she asked Zaveid to repeat.

Mikleo was about to run out and stop them, but Dezel held him back. He protested it—the pact with Zaveid, the process to form it, the consequences of it—he didn’t want to see Sorey deteriorate any more than he already had.

Sorey let Zaveid pull him in for a deep kiss. Zaveid’s true name was:

“ _Fylk Zahdeya_.”

When the pact had been consummated, Sorey’s chest exploded in pain. Zaveid offered his shoulder for him to lean on. He was prepared for the aftermath that would cripple his body even if he hated that this was the consequence. Sorey’s sight worsened in addition to his heart beating dangerously faster and his body heating up.

“Sorey!” Mikleo screamed. He broke out of Dezel’s hold, rushing to his side and holding his head in his arms. “I’ll make some ice for you!” His hand shaking, he built a block of ice using his powers.

Rose looked at Zaveid’s silhouette under the clouded night sky in curious confusion. This man had been in Dezel’s cosmosphere twice. The first time was when he fought against him. The second time was when he freed him. But was it really the same man?

“What a fool,” Edna chided. “Why did that idiot think he could take on another seraph?” Zaveid was much older and stronger. He conducted more power than her or Mikleo, so why would he make the pact with him? “Does he have a death wish? If he dies…”

Zaveid knew that what he had done was ill-advised, but he vowed long before he came to the decision that he would take responsibility if he were to fall in battle. Heaps of ice surrounded the Shepherd, and when Mikleo felt like it was enough to keep him from overheating, he turned to the new addition to their team with tearful hatred.

“Why did you make him enter a pact? Sorey is already weakened by Edna and me! He didn’t need to take another one!” he bawled. “Why did you do it?” He sobbed, the image of Sorey not waking up one morning from the strain on his body and soul permeating his mind and bringing dread to his heart. “I don’t want him to die.”

Lailah approached Zaveid while Alisha consoled Mikleo. She let him know that Mikleo was simply upset, most likely because Sorey didn’t have his consent. Edna wasn’t happy, either, but she knew it was a necessary measure to ensure that they had enough power in their arsenal. Even after he explained to them what he had told Sorey, Mikleo and Edna had two different feelings about the situation.

“What’s done is done,” Dezel said. “But, Zaveid, we need to talk.”

“I’m surprised you remember me!” Zaveid half-jokingly replied. “I…I honestly thought you forgot.” The weak, nervous smile he had disappeared shortly because he knew that he was gambling with Sorey’s life. In addition to the fact that Dezel wanted to discuss something, he felt something in the pit of his stomach that hinted it wasn’t anything good. “Mickeyboy, don’t worry about Sorey. If I end up doing more damage than expected, I’ll sever the pact with him,” he promised. He followed Dezel farther out into the fields as Mikleo glared at him.

Rose was going to follow them, but Lailah advised against it. Considering that she knew his secret, and she had a feeling that was what the topic would be, she didn’t want Rose’s heart to break.

“Rose, why don’t you help us get Sorey into the shelter?” Alisha asked. “It’s far too dangerous to let him recover out here.” She placed a hand on Mikleo’s shoulder, too. “Once we move him, be sure to give him lots of love and care.”

While they gave Dezel and Zaveid complete solitude, the wind seraphim proceeded with their talk. Things were strange between the two having spent the past decades apart. Time lost meaning to beings that virtually lived forever, but Dezel’s memory was fuzzy. He knew him, but he still felt like a stranger to him.

“I take it that living with Rose has been interesting,” Zaveid started. He stared at the stars that managed to peek through the rain clouds.

“Living with her for the past 12 years…still doesn’t compare to the years I lived with Lafarga. He was all I had,” Dezel replied. “They killed him—the damn royal family and that brat of a seraph. And I had to run away—I chose to run away to save myself.”

“He suffered an IPD outbreak, right?”

Dezel snapped, “Don’t say it so casually!” He composed himself again. “They pushed him to it, and then they killed him when they figured out that they couldn’t contain him again.” He took his hat off, laying it on his lap. “The whole time we were in Pendrago, I was…afraid.”

Zaveid listened. He was surprised that Dezel was telling him what he wouldn’t tell Rose or Sorey or Alisha, and he assumed it was because that he was also an IPD seraph. After all, what could they hope to understand when they weren’t even seraphim?

“I was scared that the malevolence and the memories would initiate a breakout. If I did, and if I attacked Rose—”

“This isn’t like you at all,” Zaveid interrupted. “Since when did the ragamuffin Dezel let his anxiety and fear get the better of him? When you were just a squirt, you wanted to beat up the entire Rolance army just to save Lafarga. Where did that spunk go?”

Dezel let up a short chuckle. “Reality finally caught up to me,” he said. The wind blew over Pearloats Pasture. “But I don’t intend to let Rose get hurt. She can’t get hurt; she’s the only thing keeping me from falling to the malevolence and becoming a dragon.”

Zaveid sighed. He remembered Edna’s brother when he was still a seraph. He remembered the day he finally succumbed to the malevolence around him. He was in so much pain, and he was so scared. But Zaveid was afraid as well. He knew that once he had turned, he would lose all control of himself.

“Rose is doing a good job for someone who doesn’t understand our plight,” Zaveid smiled.

“She keeps trying to get me to tell the truth.”

“So why don’t you? What do you have to lose? I’ve heard it on the wind that she’s pretty much pledged her life to you, so what’s the holdup?” He nudged him and offered a mischievous smile.

Dezel blushed slightly. “I-If she learns about all that happened and why I was being chased by soldiers so long ago, she’ll leave. The job of protecting a wanted seraph is too much.”

“You’re thinking too hard again. If she wanted to leave, she would have done so a long time ago. She cares a lot more than you think.”

Of course, Zaveid didn’t have any evidence, but he knew that it was something Dezel wanted, maybe needed, to hear even if it wasn’t true. He had watched Dezel grow, and he knew that he was a cold one. Lafarga had showered him with love and companionship when they were held in confinement within Rolance, and that was what Rose was trying to do now.

“What do you know?” Dezel asked him. There was a moment of silence between them before he spoke again. “I’ve been letting her Dive into me. At first only to gain the Armatus, but now she’s too smart. She knows when I’m hiding things.”

“So then, don’t,” Zaveid said. He stood up, the wind gust throwing his long white-to-lime hair behind him. “She’s your human, and you have to trust her. If you hide things from her, she won’t understand your feelings. Your Songs will have no meaning, and she’ll be lost in the dark. I’m not saying that you should lay everything out. Judge when she’s mature enough to know more about the truth. Open yourself to her, and then you’ll become powerful enough to kill whoever you have to kill.” Facing the shelter Edna made, he let out a sigh. “It’s rough, but just remember that not all humans are bad. Not all seraphim are trustworthy. Rose’s soul is a precious one hidden in this sea of corrupted desire. She’s the only one you can cling to to keep yourself alive.”

They ended to the talk there, heading back to the shelter before the morning sun colored the sky a dull lavender. When they reached the shelter, they found that Rose and Alisha had been covered together with Sorey’s garb while Mikleo, Lailah, and Edna watched their Shepherd. His face looked more peaceful. The pain in his chest must have subsided, and his fever had gone down. Mikleo looked back at Zaveid. The contempt for him had vanished, yet the worry was still there as budding tears.

“Where are all of you headed?” Zaveid asked in an effort to acclimate everyone to him.

“We’ve been chased out of Pendrago, where a pope went missing,” Edna told him. “Assuming that the pope is still alive, we’re looking for him.”

“A pope, you say?” Zaveid said, rubbing his chin nonchalantly. “Then do I have some info for you!” He was beaming since he could already prove he was worth it to the group. “On my travels, I heard about a Pope Masedra—”

“Where?!” Lailah shot at him.

“Well, hold on, hold on. He’s in a poor village called Gododdin.”

“Boring,” Edna sighed.

“Rumor has it that he fled there after he couldn’t take witnessing the IPD experiments. My guess is that he went to go help this village to clear his conscience.”

“How can we trust that information?” Mikleo interrogated. He still was wary of him, but the burly wind seraph knew that he would warm up to him soon enough. He just had to wait for Sorey to feel better. “Where did you get it?”

“I did some recon myself while helping out Lady Shurelia.”

Lailah mediated because while Zaveid had become a temporary detriment to Sorey, he had provided them with an invaluable clue to Masedra’s whereabouts. Once the Shepherd and Squires were rested, they would set out to Gododdin, which lie beyond Biroclef Ridge and the Cambria Caverns.

\--------------------------------------------

Targana knelt before the Cardinal Forton deep in the labyrinthine walls of the shrinechurch. They stood before a large door with the crest of the Great Lord Maotelus, but behind it wasn’t the strongest seraph in the land. The catacombs of the shrinechurch served as the site to a much more insidious plot.

“How is the Goddess faring?” Cardinal Forton asked.

“Preparations are going smoothly,” Targana reported. “Once Lunarre returns with the ore that will facilitate the creation of the Song we need, and once Lakra is ready to sublimate into him after we’ve recaptured him, Hyland will be no more. Their evil ways of creating Seraphoids will end.”

Targana offered a princely smile. Things were going according to plan. Cardinal Forton asked to see the so-called “Goddess”, and he escorted her in. They strolled past the multitude of stone soldiers, one of which looked exactly like Sergei. In the back of the chamber was a large glowing crystal that was a prison cell to the fairy-looking Goddess. Immovable and deaf to the world around her, she slept like a fly trapped in amber.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really like the father-son/older bro-younger bro dynamic between Zaveid and Dezel, especially since Zaveid took care of Dezel when he was a kid once.


	43. Phase 2:  To Mark One's Territory

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cosmosphere Level 4 : Edna  
>  _Ma num ra chs pic wasara mea,_  
>  _en fwal syec mea._  
>  _Was yea ra chs mea yor_  
>  _en fwal en chs hymme._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sometimes I think Edna is too hard on Zaveid. Other times, the sibling dynamic is just too perfect. This is both. In other news, I've got a demo for one of the Songs in this fic (in my shitty voice), so now I just need to figure out how to make the music for it and then find some people to sing it. Oh I should also do some art for it!

Sorey turned on his side in his sleep, jolting awake when he realized that his clothes were cold and wet just like outside. He was thoroughly confused until Mikleo tackled him and showered him with kisses, blubbering that he was so happy that he was alive. Zaveid looked offended.

“You’re acting like I almost killed him!” he argued.

“Well, by making a pact wth him in this state, you nearly did,” Edna brutally said. “Atone for your sins, stripper.”

“And now you attack my style?”

Rose and Alisha woke up to the ruckus, which Lailah quickly explained away that Sorey was alive and relatively well. Rose glanced over at Dezel, who was more standoffish than usual. She wanted to ask him about his talk with Zaveid, but Alisha nudged her. It was a private matter; it was best she didn’t interfere.

“That reminds me,” Zaveid suddenly announced. “Sorey, you can finally Dive in me!”

Sorey seemed excited enough; however, Mikleo and Edna glared at the wind seraph. He ordered them to be nice to Zaveid, but the earth seraph had a much different plan. She was going to berate him and show him just who the Shepherd belonged to…even if she really didn’t lay any claim to him. She disregarded Mikleo’s protests about Diving for such a trivial reason. Instead, she Armatized with Sorey without warning. Speaking through his mouth, she told him:

“Guess what, Naked Man? You have to share him with his boyfriend and with the Iron Maiden.”

“Did you really call yourself that? Good lord, Eizen would be appalled,” Zaveid scoffed.

“E-Edna, is this really a good idea? I just woke up,” Sorey sheepishly asked.

_“Can it, Sorey,”_ Edna commanded. _“Besides, you promised that you would Dive into my soul more anyway. What better way to introduce someone to the group than to lay down the ground rules?”_

Sorey conceded before apologizing to Zaveid, who had done a lot to help Sorey and Mikleo already, and to Mikleo, who tried to pretend like he didn’t care either way. Everyone knew he did, and everyone knew he couldn’t hide it.

\---------------------------------------------------

Sorey held his head in disbelief. He had expected Mikleo to do something like this but not Edna. It seemed odd that she was always ready attack their new team member’s insecurities and self-esteem. He wanted to ask her what her connection was to Zaveid besides Eizen, specifically why she was always cold and mean to him.

_“That meathead wasn’t really on good terms with my brother, but they inadvertently became friends after something happened between them,”_ Edna explained. She didn’t know too much herself. _“It’s not like I hate him or have a grudge against him. His type of personality is easy to toy with.”_

_“So you’re just mean to him because you can be,”_ Sorey concluded.

Edna smirked. It gave her something to do while Sorey tended to Mikleo now. She decided that it was time to Dive, so Sorey prepared himself for whatever await on the fourth level of Edna’s soul.

\---------------------------------------------------

“You’re back again already?” Phoenix asked Sorey. It seemed on edge, believing that Sorey was now some sort of lecher instead of the pure-hearted Shepherd he actually was. It also thought that Sorey had some strange kink, and it prepared to kick him out of her soul space.

“Edna wanted to prove a point to Zaveid and forced me to do this,” Sorey explained. “Do you know about anything between them?”

Phoenix shook its head. It seemed more like it didn’t want to talk as opposed to simply not knowing anything. Sorey knew that at some point he would have to Dive into Zaveid, and it would probably be his best bet if he wanted to learn their history.

He took a look around the soul space from his spot on the Stonehenge. A celebratory Pendrago City was there in the distance. There was confetti and streamers flying around. What was all the commotion about?

Sorey went down to the city, curiously looking at all the decorations detailing about a hero named Ice. At first, he thought they were talking about Mikleo, but he knew that couldn’t be correct because Edna would never put Mikleo on a pedestal. She had too much pride to do that. The silhouette on the posters looked a lot like Eizen.

“Eizen as a superhero now?” Sorey mumbled to himself. He respected that Edna held so much love for her brother, yet it was a little excessive to see him as a hero.

“Move it, mister,” her voice came from behind him. The Edna of this level was dressed in a white and grey-plaid school uniform with a Normin hoodie underneath the school’s blazer. Her thigh-high socks were orange decorated with large yellow stars that fed down into her yellow galoshes. She had a very large, limited edition, only ten ever produced Phoenix backpack. Her blonde hair was tied into a side ponytail with a bubble beret. “Didn’t you hear me? I said, get lost.”

“Edna, what are you doing here?” Sorey asked her.

“I’m here to pick up my pre-order for the new Normin scale figure,” she explained. “I’ve got thirty seconds to claim mine, so beat it.”

“But I have so many questions.”

“Oh my God, can you just move? I have fifteen seconds left, you idiot!”

She shoved him aside to retrieve her Normin only to find that her hold expired by five seconds. The store clerk refused to sell it to her, claiming that the pre-order policy stated that it would be sold to the next customer that walked in.

“What the hell? How is that any fair?!” Edna almost cried. “I worked my ass off to buy this figure! Do you know how hard it is to come up with 100,000 gald? I put all my heart and soul in to getting enough money for it! And it’s the last one I need before I can go to the Ice-palooza! I can’t live without hearing him sing!”

Sorey brought a finger to his chin. So Eizen was a super-idol in this world.

“What do you mean I have to wait until next year!? _I can’t wait a year to see him fight bad guys while singing!_ ”

Sorey refined thoughts again. So Eizen was a super-idol that fought crime? He gave up trying to make sense of this world. Edna stormed out of the store, kicking his shin and beating him with her umbrella.

“E-Edna!”

She hissed at him, “This is _your_ fault! Go and fix this mess!”

Sorey agreed reluctantly then headed into the store to buy the figure. Unfortunately, someone had been staking out the store, and while Edna was busy arguing with the clerk and he was trying to understand the world, that person stepped in and bought the figure.

“You snooze, you lose, kid!” Zaveid snorted. He was still shirtless, and Sorey had to wonder how he was even allowed to buy the figure when he clearly violated the “no shirt, no shoes, no service” motto of every store known to man. “This baby is going to net me a front row seat at Ice’s concert, and then I can finally ask to sing with him!”

Sorey raised his hand to ask if he could buy another one, but the store clerk denied him. Once the pre-orders closed and the figure was released, all hope of finding it again plummeted. He couldn’t go back to Edna empty-handed, so he thought about asking Zaveid to at least lend him the figure. The wind seraph refused to hand it over, crying out that it was a golden ticket of a figure.

“B-But you don’t understand…” Sorey timidly said. Or maybe he didn’t want to rock the boat anymore.

“Back off, man. It’s mine,” Zaveid gruffly told him.

Zaveid left the store, and Sorey was beside himself with what to do. He walked out the store with some fear of what Edna would do to him. But the earth seraph was gone. A small Normin charm was on the ground, and it looked a lot like the figure. Sorey picked it up carefully.

“I’ve got to return this to her,” he said to himself. He walked down the street to the castle gate where Phoenix was waiting for him. “She really looked up to Eizen, huh?” he asked it.

“In a way, Eizen was her bridge to the outside world. Incredibly strong and an amazing singer back in the day, she wanted to be like him,” Phoenix said. “The only problem was that Eizen was usually away from her, and she eventually grew to become how she is now. People used to think they were a married couple because she got onto him about always being away.”

Sorey hummed. He thanked Phoenix for the insight, heading towards the Spiritcrest that was much closer to the city than in reality. As he walked, he got the feeling that he was being watched. The sky was getting darker and darker as night drew near, and finally someone had jumped out in front of him.

“I see you got your hands on the Priventi figure,” the first assailant said. She sounded like Rose.

“Hand it over and you won’t get hurt,” the second assailant demanded. He sounded like Dezel.

Sorey drew his sword. “This is just a phone charm,” he told them. “I’m returning it to a friend.” Rose and Dezel attacked him, tying him up and swiping the Normin charm. “Give it back!”

“We’ll make a killing off of this!” Rose cackled. She shoved the charm into her pocket.

Sorey tried to maneuver his sword to cut the cord around him, but Rose held a dagger to his neck. She warned him that if he tried to escape or tried to get the charm back, she would kill him without a second thought.

“Shadow Beam Prism Sword!” an unfamiliar voice sang. Rose and Dezel were swatted away from Sorey like bugs. Eizen was standing above the Shepherd wearing what looked like a gothic idol costume. His striking eyes peered down at Sorey. “Hmph, lowly bandits attacking an otaku at night. Scourge of the earth, begone!” He sang again, and his power flung them even farther away. Then he freed Sorey. “Are you unharmed?”

“E-Eizen?” Sorey stuttered. The idol pulled him to his feet. “You really are a crime-fighting super-idol…”

“Don’t call me by that name.”

“Huh? O-Oh, right, Ice.”

Eizen picked up the Normin charm from the ground, dusting off the dirt and carefully handing it to Sorey. “Sorry this happened to you. Ever since my promotion event, people have been attacking each other to get their hands on the Normin merchandise. As a consolation, you can sit front row.”

Sorey blushed. Why would he think that Sorey was interested? If his show was as flashy as his fighting, then maybe, but even still it wasn’t his place to take Edna’s opportunity. He explained to Eizen that he was looking for Edna to return the charm to her, and Eizen seemed to be surprised by his kindness. He asked Sorey to relay the consolation to Edna, and he returned to Pendrago to prepare for the concert.

Meanwhile, Zaveid had invited himself to Edna’s house to gloat about buying the last Priventi figure. The earth seraph tried to shoo him away, but he persisted. When Sorey entered her abode, the wind seraph jumped.

“You again?” both seraphim irately said.

“Edna, you dropped this outside of the figure store,” Sorey said. Handing it to her, he whispered in her ear so Zaveid couldn’t listen. “Ice invited you to front row seats at his concert.”

“What? There’s no way!” Edna gasped. Sorey nodded. Again, he felt someone watching him.

Rose and Dezel stormed into Edna’s home. “Don’t think we didn’t hear about that charm,” Dezel sneered. “We’re going to make a lot of money off it.”

“Again?” Sorey said exasperatedly. He drew his sword. “You’re not getting that charm!”

“Fine, we can take the figure,” Rose sassily said.

“Like hell you will!” Zaveid countered. He hugged the treasured box.

As all of them prepared to fight, the Normin figure suddenly came to life. It was definitely surprising, especially when it resonated with the charm. A brilliant light shined, and Zaveid and Edna felt their bodies heat up. A strange feeling from deep inside developed, and the two of them moaned in discomfort.

“What’s happening?” Edna asked.

“My body feels so warm…overflowing with power!” Zaveid strained.

When the light faded, they were wearing outfits akin to magical idol girls. Edna’s consisted of an orange and yellow plaid dress with a matching white blazer and her hair in pigtails while Zaveid’s was similar to Eizen’s except it had hints of green instead of red and brown.

“What…is going on…?” Sorey stammered. Just what was happening in Edna’s mind to produce this cockamamie story?

The Normin stood in front of them. “Pleased to meet you!” it greeted Sorey. “I’m Priventi!”

Rose and Dezel prepared to fight, but not after Edna and Zaveid gave their character introductions, which probably made Sorey cringe the most.

“A shooting star across the night sky!” Edna started. “A ray of sunshine on a barren wasteland! Come forth, vile black marketeers! I shall end you! Singer Starshine is on the case!”

“A sexy wind blowing through your hair!” Zaveid continued. “I’ll never break my promise! I can promise you that…you won’t get out of here unharmed! Sultry Windy is going to kick some butt!”

Priventi nudged Sorey to also make a character introduction. “I-I’m Sorey…” he said, mortified.

“Screw this!” Rose spat. She charged at Sorey. Their blades rang together as they parried each other. Dezel was hellbent on killing either one of the seraphim. “Dezel, don’t hurt the Normin! We can make even _more_ money now that it’s alive!”

Edna smacked Dezel with her umbrella while Zaveid wrapped him up. “Synchronicity maxed out!” they yelled together. “Sultry Starry Gun Beam!”

Together a beam of light that seemed to have come from an invisible by most likely idol-themed cannon shot at Rose and Dezel. It pushed them out of Edna’s home, well off into the sky, and somewhere over the horizon. Edna and Zaveid stuck stereotypical heroic poses with Priventi standing in front of them triumphantly. Sorey was simply baffled.

“What the hell is this getup?” Edna asked with disgust. “And I transformed with you? Disgusting.”

“You’re one to talk,” Zaveid fired back. “You looked like you were totally enjoying fighting with me.”

“As if, lecher.”

“I’m not a lecher!”

Priventi approached Sorey with a simple face. Its big round eyes stared up at him. “They’re going to be at it for a while. Shepherd, what say you we take these two to the concert? Ice will be overjoyed to see that they are like this.”

Sorey had no other choice. If he left Edna and Zaveid alone to their own devices, they would eventually kill each other. He asked them to kindly go to the concert, to which the two panicked. They left without waiting for him and Priventi.

Phoenix caught up with them as they were heading to the concert. “Your job is done here,” it told Sorey. “All that’s left is to see the outcome and guide Edna to the Paradigm Shift.” And that’s what he did.

Sorey and Priventi were stuck behind the entire crowd, but as if they had super hearing, they listened to Edna and Zaveid meet Eizen. They were ecstatic, especially when he pulled them up on stage and sang with them.

“Ready? One, two, three…!” Eizen—or rather, Ice—counted. Edna and Zaveid sang with him as best as they could, dancing along with him and creating a magical performance that no doubt made Edna happier than he’d ever seen her. “Next song! Can you keep up? Here we go!”

After the concert was over and everyone had gone home—Zaveid and Eizen included—Sorey escorted Edna, back in her school uniform, to the Stonehenge for the Paradigm Shift. Edna was still smiling, her heart brimming with the happiness that could only come when she was with her beloved brother.

“Thank you, Sorey, for the small kindness that led to a life-changing moment,” Edna said. Her words were uncharacteristically sincere and joyful. “Without you, Eizen wouldn’t have noticed me. Thank you.”

Sorey blushed. “I didn’t do that much. But Edna,” he paused. He returned the smile to her. “It’s so refreshing to see you smile like that. I hope I can see your smile again one day.”

The smile morphed into an uncomfortable pursing of her lips as she pouted. “I’ll see you on the next level.”

\---------------------------------------------------

Sorey woke up to find Edna standing by his side with a smug look on his face. He glanced at Zaveid, who looked like he had been told off. Alisha and Lailah weren’t sure how to handle the situation, and Rose and Dezel were hushed as well. Mikleo slid to Sorey’s side.

“Edna and Zaveid aren’t doing so well,” he almost inaudibly said. “This isn’t good for team morale. What are you going to do?”

Sorey usually always felt accomplished after the Dives albeit concerned for the partnered seraph. But this one was different. The Dive was genuine, but unlike the Edna that had just witnessed, the real Edna was using her pact to show off. He didn’t like it, and he felt bad for their new friend.

“Edna,” Sorey sternly said. He stood up, placing himself between her and Zaveid. “I can’t talk about the Dive with everyone here, but this isn’t right.” He stood in front of her. “I don’t know your history with each other, but I’m going to stop this before it gets worse now. Don’t force me to Dive just to prove a point.”

Edna’s eyes were wide with surprise. She didn’t believe that Sorey could get upset, much less upset with her specifically. She glanced up at Zaveid, who was also amazed that Sorey was protecting him. Why wouldn’t he? He worked to save him when Mikleo was dying; if he didn’t, Mikleo wouldn’t be there with them.

“I…I’m sorry,” Edna apologized to Zaveid. “I shouldn’t have done what I did.”

“Don’t be,” Zaveid hesitantly said. “After all, I just joined you guys. It’s only natural I would be the black sheep for some time.” He let out a laugh that indicated that he had been wounded emotionally.

Rose couldn’t stand it anymore. She knocked Zaveid in the head but steered clear from Edna because the earth seraph would have gut her if she tried. “Why do we always have to get so down in the dumps?” she complained. “We have a location on Masedra! We got a new seraph with us! But here we are, moping along and acting like things are horrible. Buck up! We’ve got a pope to bring back to Pendrago, and a cardinal that we need to remove!”

Sorey agreed with her, but he felt a pang of guilt after getting upset with Edna. He decided that when they were able to be alone, he would talk with her about her Dive and hopefully get some answers about her relationship with Zaveid.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I would do art for Zaveid and Edna in this chapter, but the art in Ar Tonelico 2 looks...much too much like an innuendo that I wouldn't feel comfortable drawing. (Especially since a lot of people view Edna as a young girl and not the 1000+ being that she is.)


	44. Phase 2:  Quest to Goddodin

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Symonne acquires a new ally, and Sorey and company begin their trek to Gododdin.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Soooooo, it's my birthday.....and I'm going to upload a new chapter!

A man with a fox face and long wild golden hair peered around the corner of the cave at the abundance of vermillion ore. One of these, he believed, would have to be the special ore that would give Frelia the song Targana and Cardinal Forton desired. He watched the villagers silently from the shadows. He licked his lips as he imagined how tasty all of these humans would be. As a hellion himself, it took a considerable amount of self-control to keep him from devouring them as fast as he could.

“What’s this?” one of the villagers asked. He examined a scarlet ruby the size of his palm. It was surrounded by interlocking gold rings. “This isn’t vermillion ore.”

The village chief joined him, taking the stone into his hands. “This isn’t an ore at all. This is called a Hymn Crystal,” he explained. “I’ve heard of them, but I’ve never seen one in such pristine condition. How curious that this would be out here.”

“Chief, what should we do with it? We can’t mix it into the elixirs, right?”

“No, we can’t. I will hold onto it for safe-keeping.”

The fox-faced hellions bit his lip. He was sure that Hymn Crystal was the ore he was looking for. He had to wait until nightfall to snatch it, and as he turned to find a better entry point into the chief’s cottage, he found a small fallen seraph behind him.

“My, my, a lone hellion that still has conscious control of his actions all the way out here,” Symonne giggled. “I imagine that you’re pining for the end of the world?”

“Who the hell are you, wench? Get out of my way!” the hellion snarled. Symonne aimed her cropped wand at his throat. She struck fear into his heart, her wickedness emanating like a thick black smoke that would have suffocated him if he were human.

“You’re going to work for Lord Heldalf by supporting those in Rolance who wish to destroy Hyland,” Symonne decided. “Now, tell me what Cardinal Forton has in store.”

“How the hell should I know? The wretched witch won’t talk, and blond dog of a knight won’t talk either.”

Symonne grabbed him by the cheeks and stared into his eyes. She ordered him to tell her; she knew that he was trying to hide it. The fox-faced hellion finally gave in:

“They’re planning to turn Infel Phira into a weapon to annihilate Hyland! They need a certain song to carry out the conversion, and they’re going to use the administrator of the Second Tower’s power to do it!”

Symonne released him with a malevolent smile. She never pegged humans to be so smart. When she asked for the hellion’s name, he revealed himself to be Lunarre. She made a deal with him—if he aided Cardinal Forton and Targana in their endeavors, it would render a third of the continent defenseless to the new world that Heldalf and Mir wanted. On top of that, even if she couldn’t use her Song Magic thanks to Shurelia shutting down her Tower, the Second Tower was equally useless because the main power supply was out of commission. Infel Phira was nothing but a mechanical sphere high above the land, ripe for the picking and perfectly good to be used against Sorey and his friends.

“Heed me, fox,” Symonne threatened. “Don’t fail the Cardinal. Strike despair into Sorey’s heart and teach him that no amount of hope in world can possibly save everyone.” With that, Symonne faded away into the darkness. Only her voice remained. “We’ll snuff out that weak light in his heart.”

\----------------------------------------

The blighting rain continued that morning as Edna dismantled the shelter she had made for them for the night. Alisha couldn’t help but be concerned for Zaveid’s safety given that he was shirtless and thus less protected from the stinging droplets. He didn’t seem to mind so much. As their guide to Gododdin, he was willing to stand the pain. He informed them that the regular traveler’s way to the forgotten village was closed due to the roads through Biroclef Ridge were crumbling because of the malevolence. They would have to go through the Cambria Caverns to bypass the wreckage and potential pitfalls. The entrance to the cavern, next to the strangely malevolent threshold leading into Biroclef Ridge, was narrow and tight. Edna and Mikleo were able to squeeze through, but everyone else either had to deflate themselves as best as possible or required their assistance to make it through.

“Wow, this place is so cool!” Sorey gawked once inside. “Can you imagine what mysteries are lying in wait here?” He grabbed Mikleo’s arms like a child. “Mikleo, we gotta go see!”

“Sorey, we’ve got somewhere to be,” Mikleo told him. Sorey kept swinging his arms. “Sorey, no.”

“Guys, please!” the Shepherd begged Rose and Alisha.

“We can always come back to it…probably,” Rose pacified. Sorey’s eyes welled with tears— _genuine_ tears—because he couldn’t explore. He had a duty, but the discoveries were waiting for him, calling him deeper. “Eyes ahead, Shepherd.”

“Look at it this way, Sorey,” Alisha consoled the crying Shepherd. “If we save the world from being destroyed, then you can reward yourself by exploring all the ruins and caverns you want.” She gave him a nervous smile as he looked at her with a hollowed face and harrowing eyes. “You’re scaring me.”

Sorey had no choice but to let it go. He led his friends down the narrow passage that cut through the mountain range to the halfway checkpoint of Biroclef Ridge. As soon as they stepped out from the cave mouth, the seraphim fell to their knees due to the sudden heaviness in the atmosphere. There was an abundance of malevolence in the area.

“Where is it coming from?” Lailah choked.

Something was circling them in the dark cloudy sky above. It had the head, talons, and wings of an eagle and the body of a lion—a griffon. It dripped with malevolence, its yellow eyes glaring at them with bloodlust. The domain it held suffocated the seraphim, which prevented them from helping their humans fight against it.

“But why would it just attack us?” Alisha questioned as she readied her spear.

“You’d get cranky, too, if someone just barged in on your property,” Rose answered. “Look alive, guys, we’ve got to keep them safe!”

Sorey drew his sword, flinging himself at the griffon to begin the battle. Unfortunately, the chimeric creature was far stronger than he had anticipated. Parrying its claws with his blade, he beckoned Rose and Alisha to attack while it was trapped. The griffon kicked off of him, spinning around to face the girls with fire coming out of its steel-like beak.

Rose slid underneath the flames while Alisha leapt back. Sorey took this chance to slice off the tip of its lion tail. The monster screeched horrendously, black ooze leaking out of the severed tail like oil. He backed away from it. He knew that the griffon would turn again to him angrier than before. Alisha stabbed it in its side while Rose slashed its talons. The griffon squawked, flying up above them in search of a brief reprieve as it whipped up a whirlwind of razor-sharp gusts at them.

“This thing is way too strong,” Sorey coughed. “Can we even beat it without the seraphim?” His whole body was wracked with pain.

“We have to,” Alisha panted. She forced herself to stand up. “The malevolence here is weakening them.”

“It’s weakening us, too,” Rose groaned. She held her arm where it was bleeding.

Dezel sensed that his partner had been severely injured, and he had to join the fray. He overcame the sickening feeling in his stomach, put the lethargy out of his mind, and steeled himself against the dull aching in his muscles. If he could just tie the griffon in his chains, it would give them a fighting chance.

“Rise from the pits of hell, Deceiving Pummel!” he called out. His chains extended like tendrils from the ground beneath the griffon. They wrenched it out of the sky and held it in place as the Sorey, Rose, and Alisha got back up. “I can’t hold on for long, so finish it off quickly!”

Sorey was prepared to end it, but something made him stop. What if the griffon, corrupted by the malevolence, were to return to normal after purifying it? Wouldn’t he be killing an innocent human or animal? Rose didn’t hesitate. She buried her dagger into its neck. The griffon struggled at first, but the black ooze that had spewed from its tail was now draining out on her hand, burning it slowly as if it were acid. The domain from the griffon dissipated, and as Mikleo washed the ooze from Rose’s hand, Alisha confronted Sorey.

“What happened?” she asked him quietly. She didn’t want to alert the seraphim that his constitution might be compromised, but it would be detrimental to their cause if she didn’t address it now. “Why did you hesitate?”

“I don’t know,” Sorey admitted. “I suddenly had a thought that we were about to kill an innocent person.” He had never thought of things like that before, so why did he stop? Didn’t he want to protect his friends? Was he still not ready to fight for his dream?

“It’s okay,” Rose said, seeing that Sorey looked conflicted. “If anyone is going to do any killing, it’ll be me. Gotta preserve that righteous purity, right?” She smiled at him. Internally, she was worried that the seraphim would give him a difficult time, so she wanted to dissuade them from chastising him. Dezel wasn’t in favor, and she knew that he would have a word or two to say at some point.

Regardless, there was still a large amount of malevolence looming over the ridge. Lailah glanced up at a small overhang where she found another crucible. This one was calling to her; the Hymmnos that came in a whisper drifted into her ears.

“Alisha, do you mind if we stop there?” she asked while pointing at the crucible. She didn’t wait for her human to answer. The fire seraph walked to the crucible, avoiding all the hellions that were hovering around it. “There’s someone in here.” She searched for the name of the crucible. “This is…Crucible Samghata.”

“Lailah, wait!” Alisha called out as her friends fought off the hellions behind her. Lailah didn’t listen to her. She stepped down deeper and deeper into Samghata.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is way shorter than I remember! But that's fine, because a long chapter is coming up soon.


	45. Phase 2:  Malevolent Crucible Samghata

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lailah enters her crucible to find a seraph and a new iris gem.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Short chapter, but it is about a crucible that I TRIED SO HARD TO BEAT ON HARD WITH LAILAH and then I decided that since Forsea is down in Yder Cave, why not just put her inside the crucible and take care of an iris gem? Also why not because I'm going to need Forsea later to advance the plot. Ahahaha, I'm rambling now.

_Wee num wa rre vianchiel sasye fayra enter syec Manac SAMGHATA_   
_Wee num ra neia vianchiel sasye fayra_   
_Was quel ga rre harr na colgen en pat spiritum mea_   
_Dea sosar fayra houd mea_   
_Was yea ra presia afezeria harr van morto anw mea_   
_Was yea ra presia grandus faura oz fayra_

The forlorn singing echoed in the crucible which called Lailah’s heart closer to the atrium. It was a sad voice, almost like that of a child locked away for being bad. It pained her, and she knew she had to free it. But the malevolence in the crucible was some of the thickest that she had ever had to wade through. It wasn’t as terrible as Heldalf’s, but it certainly had the potential to reach that magnitude.

The crucible was different from the one that Sorey had ventured into and quelled. While the malevolence was potent, Lailah could feel the symphonic power that gave her Song Magic. If she wanted to, she could sing in the darkness to whoever was trapped in the crucible. She knew she couldn’t, not without Alisha there to protect her.

The hellions in the crucible were quick and relentless in their attacks. Lailah was prepared for whatever danger was there in the abyss she was chosen to purify, but being a caster, she was vulnerable to their physical attacks. She tried to cast her Seraphic Artes as fast as possible only to be bludgeoned by the scorpion hellions’ stingers or the supersonic waves that were emitted from the bat hellions’ mouths. Even after she dispatched them, she was met with a tiny agile dirt leech. It was about the size of her hand and covered in mud. This was the source of the singing.

“It’s so tiny,” she whispered. She felt guilty for fighting it, so instead she finally decided to use her Song Magic. “I don’t want to hurt you.”

The dirt leech sang a corrupted Song that sounded like a plea that tugged at her heart. The feeling is instigated reminded her of Sorey when he emerged from his crucible feeling as if he had done something wrong. Lailah sang to it, releasing her attack just before it was strong enough to obliterate it, and when the dirt leech was at the end of its rope, she flicked her Silver Flame at it.

The malevolence burned away, revealing a fellow fire seraph who was holding onto what looked like another iris gem. “Thank you!” she breathlessly wept. “Thank you so much!” The seraph latched onto Lailah’s hands, the iris gem falling into her lap. “My name is Forsea. I used to watch over Gododdin before I was affected by the malevolence. It was when I picked up this iris gem that I turned into that monster.”

The fire seraph gave her a comforting smile. She cupped her cheeks in her hands. “May I see it?” Lailah kindly asked.

“Will you be okay?”

Lailah nodded. She had faith that she would be okay. The iris gem was a comforting green color akin to emeralds or peridots. She made a conjecture that if Edna could read the golden yellow gems, then Dezel and Zaveid would be able to read this green gem.

“It’s a green iris gem,” Forsea told her. “I don’t know what’s inside of it, but there was an impressive amount of malevolence. Please, be careful.”

“Thank you,” Lailah told her. But now she was wondering what to do with Forsea. She couldn’t stay in the crucible because she would become corrupted again. Would she be able to bring her along with her friends? “What is it like in Gododdin?” she asked her.

“It’s one of the few places where the humans don’t bother with seraphim. There is a man there—he arrived some time ago—but he’s dutiful. I could hear him pray at night for the seraphim to forgive him of his trepasses. Wherever he came from, they must have been doing horrible things to the seraphim; his face was so red and wet with tears.” Forsea looked into Lailah’s thoughtful eyes. “Why do you ask? Are you headed there?”

Lailah thought about this. Zaveid had told them that the pope had gone to a poor village called Gododdin. And Forsea said that a man that had come not too long ago was begging for forgiveness. It sealed the deal. Pope Masedra was definitely there. Confident that they were completely on the right track, Lailah asked Forsea to accompany her friends to the village. There was some hesitation; the rescued seraph hadn’t had any problems with humans, but that didn’t mean she felt safe with them. Lailah reassured her that Sorey would protect her. Forsea reluctantly agreed because she knew she couldn’t stay in the crucible. She, however, felt she could trust Lailah enough to believe that Sorey would make sure she was okay. She took her hand.

\--------------------------------------------

“Lailah-cakes!” Zaveid greeted as she exited the crucible with Forsea behind her. “How did things…go…? Who’s that?” He walked up to her and examined them.

Lailah put some distance between her and the shirtless seraph. “This is Forsea,” she introduced. “She used to live in Gododdin before she became corrupted. I was able to purify her, and I ended up finding another iris gem.” She held out the green iris gem. “Considering what we know about these, Dezel or Zaveid, would either you like to see what’s inside?”

Forsea looked concerned.

“More than likely that iris gem is what led to this seraph becoming a hellion, right?” Dezel asked. He took the gem from Lailah’s hand. “Being a cursed seraph has its perks. I can look in without too much trouble since it’s crystallized.” Then he remembered. Even if he saw it, Rose and Sorey and Alisha wouldn’t be able to see unless they were Armatized, and none of them had the capacity to Armatize without intiating a Dive. But would he want to tell them what he saw in the core of the iris gem? He considered how simply touching it transformed Forsea; something terribly dark was inside the iris gems. “On second thought, we should pack it up with the other one we have.”

“What a killjoy!” Rose chided.

“Don’t leave us hanging like Edna did!” Sorey pouted.

Dezel shrugged, placing the iris gem into one of his pouches before turning back to Forsea. A seraph that wasn’t bound to anyone was vulnerable to the malevolence around them. She had already turned once, and while the Virus within her had only been subdued, they couldn’t be too careful. He didn’t feel comfortable taking her along without a vessel to buffer her against the malevolence.

“The village isn’t too far, so maybe it’ll be okay,” Forsea said. Everyone looked at her dubiously. “As long as I keep positive and pure thoughts, I should be okay long enough to make it…right?”

“But the village itself is still teeming,” Edna told her.

“She swears that seraphim are safe in Gododdin,” Lailah countered.

“We can go back and forth all day,” Alisha interrupted. “We need to get to Gododdin, but Forsea runs the risk of turning again. In that case, I’ll protect Forsea.”

Dezel scoffed. What could Alisha do when Forsea’s greatest danger lie within her soul? Still, he had to applaud her righteousness. He returned into Rose while Lailah went inside Alisha. Sorey’s seraphim joined with him as well, which noticeably drained him. Mikleo urged them to make it to their destination quickly so Sorey could rest.

Forsea held Alisha’s hand, offering a small amount of protection to her. Sorey and Rose fought off the hellions that were roaming around, and each battle took a toll on the young Shepherd to a point that Rose had to offer her shoulder. Mikleo had asked to carry him, but the malevolence coming from Gododdin—despite the village being safe for seraphim—had debilitated him as well.

“I’m okay…” Sorey huffed. “I promise…”

_“You know, telling us that only makes us worry more,”_ Zaveid said. He already felt bad for entering a pact and making his burden heavier, but he couldn’t allow Sorey to purport such lies. Still, his vessel assured that he was okay if just a little tired. He couldn’t hide it very well with them inside of him.

They arrived at the gate leading into Gododdin. The putrid malevolence wafting over the village made their heads hurt. Forsea steeled herself, opening the gates and preparing to turn back into a hellion. The rush of tainted air that came barreling out of the village was too much for the weakened Shepherd. Zaveid and Mikleo, both appearing to his aid, hoisted him up on their shoulders. Edna cast Barrier on him to lessen the effects.

Without a moment to spare, they quickly took him to the inn. The villagers of Gododdin, in their rustic clothes and worn shoes, watched them suspiciously. They had been building and cleaning and beautifying their homes with new luxuries, and while they welcomed all these novelties into their lives, something about them made it clear that they didn’t trust these newcomers. There was no time to interrogate them to find out what the problem was; Sorey needed to be put in bed to recover at Mikleo’s behest.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So something that's different from the game and manga that I changed is making the malevolence have a harsher effect. I think the anime did it, and while that's a trainwreck, I did like the severity of the malevolence. As such, apologies for inherently making Sorey less of a tank than he is. Forgive me!


	46. Phase 2:  Shady Business

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Having arrived in Gododdin, Sorey and friends are met with the suspicious villagers. They run into the village chief, who knows Dezel.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's...been a month....I know. I'm bad at updating. I've got a ton of stuff to do AND CON CRUNCH IS COMING UP....But on the bright side, I'm still motivated to write! Just...after the con preparation...and well, I'm almost done with DRV3 (which is surviving as a break from writing). Also a fan of Sorey being debilitated by the malevolence and his pacts~

Forsea didn’t remember there being such an abundance of malevolence in Gododdin as she watched Mikleo nurse Sorey back to health at the inn. The malevolence had always been there, but it was miniscule. Masedra was the source, his regret for abusing the seraphim slowly fueling it. She refused to believe that the hardworking poor people of the village had given into temptation so desperately.

“We have to find him…” Sorey listlessly argued. “We need to bring him back…to Pendrago and stop the rain…”

“He’s got a high fever,” Mikleo stated. He forced himself to ignore what his precious Shepherd was saying; he wanted to accomplish his task at any cost including his own life. “No offense to Zaveid, but I think he’s still getting accustomed to having three seraphim dwell within him. On top of that, the malevolence here is exceptionally high. I can feel myself becoming more and more exhausted.”

Dezel watched Sorey writhe. Rose had the potential of being in that kind of state. She was a Squire which was only capable of holding one seraph inside of her. If she had to carry three, would she die? Such a thought made his stomach churn. He couldn’t imagine her in pain; he didn’t want to imagine her in pain or sick or delirious like Sorey. Most importantly, he didn’t know what he would do if he was alone.

Lailah worried about Alisha as well yet not about her suspectibility to the malevolence. She was sensing something within the village that was neither malicious nor benevolent. She couldn’t pinpoint it, but her heart was trembling in the presence of some immense power that called her. She didn’t want Alisha anywhere near it until she could decipher what it was.

“We need to investigate,” Sorey whined again. This time Edna covered his mouth.

“If he keeps going on like that, we’ll be in trouble,” she said. “Did any of you notice?”

“The villagers aren’t happy that we’re here,” Dezel answered. He crossed his arms and leaned against the wall. Something was amiss in the poor mountain village of Gododdin, and they were hiding it. “The Shepherd isn’t wrong that we need to check things out, but it’ll be hard to do that if the villagers are watching us.”

“Not to mention we can’t be sure that they won’t try and catch you guys,” Rose said. Her wind seraph shifted uncomfortably.

On the other hand, Alisha was raring to go. If Sorey couldn’t lead the reconnaissance mission, then she could do it in his stead. Lailah objected for fear that she would get into trouble either by the villagers or by the strange presence in the village. If the princess was going anywhere, then she would go with her to protect her with all her might.

Mikleo took a break from taking care of Sorey. He had place an ice-cold damp rag on his forehead to keep him cool while he recharged. He didn’t believe he had the authority to delegate tasks, but with the leader of their ragtag group out of commission and dubbing himself his right-hand, he had to take charge.

“We’ll have to reconvene here to consolidate our information,” he said. He glanced at each one of them. “Alisha and Lailah, you two will interview the villagers. We’ll use Sorey’s ailment to our advantage, so ask them if there are any local remedies for fever. Rose and Dezel, while the villagers are somewhat distracted, see if you can find anything that would suggest a source of the malevolence here.”

Edna glared at Mikleo. “Ahem, what about us?” she miffed.

“You two,” Mikleo started, turning back to Sorey to flip the rag. “You’re going to stay here with me.”

“Come on, Mickeyboy!” Zaveid complained. “Give me a chance to prove myself!”

Mikleo refused. Sorey wasn’t in any condition for his seraphim to leave his side, and with the villagers looking at them with apprehension when they first entered, they could potentially be in danger. Additionally, if they ventured too far from his body, then the connection between the Shepherd and each seraph would wane. If the pacts broke, they would transform into dragons immediately given the strength of the malevolence in the village. Though, this made Zaveid wonder about Forsea. She didn’t have a pact, and she was affected just like everyone else, yet she wasn’t turning into a dragon, but that was simply because she had been purified by Lailah before she had gone too far. She was starting with a clean slate.

The teams broke up to do their tasks with Alisha and Lailah leaving the inn first. They headed to the center of Gododdin where the majority of the suspicious villagers had gathered to discuss their presence. The two girls were met with piercing stares and frowning faces. When they asked why they were there, and more importantly why Alisha had a seraph so close to her, the two thought up their explanations as quickly as they could.

“We’re here to take a break from our travels,” Alisha told them. “We’re a bunch of merchants just looking for some places to research for new products.”

Lailah looked nervously at them, touching her fingertips together and straining a smile. “A-And I’m her h-humble servant! My master treats me better than most humans do, so I’ve been allowed to accompany her!” she fibbed. Alisha peered at her from the corner of her eye, a tinge of worry glinting in them. “I do whatever my master says!”

“Figured,” one of the villagers spat. “All you people down the mountain are the same—using seraphim for your own disgusting desires.”

Alisha and Lailah were confused yet relieved. What Forsea had said was true; in fact, it was better than they had expected. They never bothered her, and they detested those that enslaved the seraphim. But what would that mean for Sorey? In their eyes, he looked like a slave driver just like Alisha did now with her tethered seraphim.

“How can you treat seraphim so horribly?” another villager bit.

“B-But I don’t treat her bad,” Alisha said. She was cracking under their intense glares.

Lailah took Alisha’s hand, pulling her close by her waist. She had a seductively mischievous smile on her pink lips. “No…you don’t treat me bad. Every Dive with you is a moment of happiness in this bleak world.” The princess couldn’t help but blush when her fire seraph had said that, and the villagers were beside themselves. It was unheard of for there to be such a relationship even if they weren’t bothered by the happenings of the seraphim. But for whatever reason, it worked. They weren’t suspicious of them, but that didn’t mean that Sorey and Rose were cleared.

“Now that we’ve cleared that up,” Lailah started as she turned to the villagers. “We’ve heard rumors that Pope Masedra is living here!” Alisha began to cough; Lailah had gone straight to the point, and she began to panic that they would try to kick them out of their village.

Rose and Dezel were standing behind the inn and listening for when they could sneak around to find evidence. The two of them didn’t know whether to be amazed that Lailah could just go straight to the point or to be exasperated about abandoning the plan. Still, they had to use it to their advantage while everyone was still confused.

There was another path behind the village to a large cave. The entrance had been sealed shut by fallen boulders, and there was no way around them. It was a dead end in the investigation. They had to turn back. When they did, a few villagers stopped them.

“What’s going on here? Are you more ‘merchants’ with that girl? What are you doing back here?” one of them interrogated.

Dezel pulled Rose behind him. He sensed their anger, and while it generated malevolence, it wasn’t very much. They weren’t the source.

“What’s all the ruckus about?” a short old man with glasses asked. He came with his hands behind his back and a concerned expression that suggested he had already heard some story from Alisha and Lailah. “Are you with those girls?”

“Are you Pope Masedra?” Dezel asked. He tightened his grip around Rose’s wrist, piquing her curiosity about her seraph.

The old man let out a lengthy sigh. “Yes, I am, but please, call me Slenge. I’ve abandoned the name Masedra, the title Pope. I wish to atone for my sins, O Great Seraph.”

“Spare me the ‘praises’ and ‘prayers’.”

Rose glanced at him from around his back. She then stepped forward. “We need to talk, Pope. Follow us to the inn.” She looked back at Dezel again, who had turned away.  
Alisha, Rose, Lailah, and Dezel led Slenge to the inn where Sorey was still asleep. The former pope was surprised to find three more seraphim with him. Mikleo glared at Rose and Alisha, but once he learned that it was the missing pope, he softened. Zaveid stepped in.

“Do you know why we were looking for you?” he asked. The pope immediately sank to his knees. His eyes filled with tears, and he began begging for forgiveness. The shirtless seraph couldn’t even answer his own question with this display in front of him. Slenge was blubbering. “Uh, you okay?”

“I know why you’re here,” Slenge sobbed. “I always knew my sins would come to haunt me! I knew when I saw Dezel.”

Rose again glanced at her seraph. He was chewing his lip as if to prevent himself from attacking the old man while he was vulnerable.

“You know Dezel, huh?” Edna said. She too noticed the blind seraph’s reaction. “Well, let’s get straight to the point. When you left, Cardinal Forton came into power and is trying to starve everyone in Pendrago with a blighting rain. So you need to get your butt back over there and fix this mess.”

Slenge looked at each person in the room before giving a resounding, “No.” He composed himself then stood up with whatever dignity he had left. “I refuse to return to that dirty city. I left because I wanted to atone for my sins. Why would I go back? I have aided in the demise of so many seraphim, and you think I want to go back to see those constant reminders?” He then turned his attention to Sorey. “I am in the presence of an ailing Shepherd, and I will help him, but I will not return to Pendrago.”

The old man pulled a small vial of medicine from his pocket. They were to give him the whole vial, and after he placed it on the side table to his bed, Dezel finally lost control. He bundled the collar of Slenge’s shirt in his fists.

“Dezel, stop!” Rose ordered.

“Atone for your sins? Running from what you did, huh?” he snarled at him. Slenge begged him to let go. “You can never atone for what you did to me! I had to suffer at your hands for so long!” Rose pulled Dezel back, but he blew her away. “If it were just you and me, old man, I would kill you with my own hands.” He let go of him as per his Squire’s request. “No matter the cost. I would slaughter you."

Slenge rubbed his throat while Alisha apologized. Rose grabbed Dezel’s arms and pulled him back again, this time holding a dagger to his neck. Lailah, Edna, and Zaveid held their tongues, and Mikleo only curtly thanked him for helping Sorey.

“I’m not proud of what I did, but I will help in anyway I can,” Slenge coughed. “Come to the cave behind the village. There is something there for the fire seraph.”

With that, Slenge left their company. Mikleo got to work giving the medicine to Sorey. It was a simple concoction that stopped the fever and reinvigorated the brunet. He had been awake and listening since Slenge had arrived, but Sorey believed that if he had interrupted the scene, then he wouldn’t have learned anything.

Rose still held Dezel down. “We’re Diving,” she told him. “Sorey, we found a path to the cave behind the village, but it’s blocked by boulders. See if you and Edna can’t figure something out about that.”

“Uh, why me?” Edna huffed. “Because it’s rocks? Rude.” But she didn’t protest. In fact, she smiled. “Sorey, it’s been a while. We should Dive, too.”

“He just got better!” Mikleo argued. Sorey placed a gentle hand on his back. “Sorey…!”

“We have bigger things to worry about, and if Edna’s Dive can help us, then it won’t be wasted time.”

Rose pulled Dezel into the room next to them, locking the door behind her before attempting to grab him by his shirt like he had done to the old man. He caught her wrists with a tight grip. “Keep this up, and I’ll make you regret it, you wretched brat,” he hissed. Rose snatched her arms away. She took a step back. Was this the same Dezel she had lived with for twelve years?

“What the hell was that all about?” she questioned him. Dezel went for the door. “Dezel, I’m talking to you!”

“Like I care.” He reached for the doorknob, but at the last second, he returned to her. He grabbed her tightly by the arms, shaking her violently like some sort of madman. “Why must you always interfere!? I had him right there. I could have killed him and gotten some retribution!”

Rose pushed his hands off of her. No, this wasn’t her Dezel; it was nowhere close to him. Where had he gone? Had he hidden himself deep within his heart? Was she going to have to pull that part of him back to the surface?

“ _Lukeim Yurlin!_ ” she called out with frustration. As Dezel Armatized, she willed herself to stay put while they hashed out what had happened in the Dive. She knew Diving now was extremely dangerous because more than likely he didn’t want her inside of him. It would be a suicide mission, and if she died, Dezel would never forgive himself no matter how angry he was now.

Alisha stared in the direction of the assassin at the wall dividing them. “I’ve never seen Dezel get that violent with someone,” she said.

Lailah held her hand. Zaveid let out a sigh, which urged Sorey to ask him if he knew anything about Dezel’s past. The wind seraph kept his mouth shut; it wasn’t his place to talk about Dezel’s past, and given that he had attacked Slenge, it would be a while before the blind seraph would say anything about it if Rose couldn’t talk to him first.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh-hohohoho! We have a Dezel Dive coming up! What will we learn? What will Rose learn? Is the title going to be appropriate for the younger audiences?! Find out next time!


	47. Phase 2:  School Days

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cosmosphere Level 4: Dezel  
>  _ENTER root.mea_  
>  _SET G.W.C. 3600Hmag/s_  
>  _0x01_  
>  _SET StartF 19021Hz_  
>  _0x01_  
>  _COM:_  
>  _Ma num ra flip 0x0011000011_  
>  _yor enter COSMOSPHERE.mea/._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> YO YO YO WHAT UP MY PEOPLE? Today is a jubilant day! FOR I HAVE FINALLY GOTTEN MY DRIVER'S LICENSE AND CAN PROCEED TO DO MORE THINGS! Ahem, this chapter is bittersweet. Like it's weird but cute but sad? I'm sorry, Dezel baby, but you're just getting started.

Rose’s head pounded as she entered Dezel’s fourth level. It was a penalization for almost forcing herself into his soul space—“almost”. And while the wind seraph didn’t try to push her back out or kill her for essentially breaking and entering or even meet her before actually initiating the Dive, he made sure that she would have difficulty in completing the level. Windur had scolded her a bit when she arrived at the Stonehenge, but she cared more about fixing whatever problem Dezel had than intruding on his soul. That, in itself, was terrible, but she rationalized that he was her seraph and that she had to do everything in her power to take care of him—even if that meant entering him when she wasn’t allowed to. The denizens of the level were not welcoming either, with the sole proprietor besides the Normin confronting her at the Stonehenge.

The version of Dezel that had accosted her at the Stonehenge was the art teacher that had threatened to kill her the first time she had set foot inside of her seraph. Now that he was in his rightful level, there was little to nothing holding him back from killing her, or at the very least, from beating her half to death.

“You’ve got some guts to come here after what you did,” he barked. “How about I give you a one-on-one lesson, brat? And—And you’re not even in your school uniform!”

“Do what you want,” Rose huffed at him. “I’m here to help, and I don’t care if I have to die a million times to do it!” She stood her ground, planting her feet and crossing her arms to defy and deny him every way she could. “Dezel, I don’t know what—”

“My name isn’t Dezel, brat. It’s Farga. Mister Farga to you.”

Rose raised an eyebrow. Such a drastic change in his attitude—it was as if he tamed himself in fear of someone watching him. He was a teacher after all, so it wasn’t too surprising that he would watch his behavior. He bit his tongue then grabbed Rose by the wrist. He dragged her to the school where he worked, and there he gave her a school uniform to use once they had arrived at the vacant principal’s office.

“Change your clothes and go to class,” he ordered. “I’ve got my students to attend to.”

Rose snorted. Students? Who would want him as a teacher when he was such a grouch? He’d threatened to kill her, too. Surely that meant he would be fired, right? Still, changing her clothes might grant her some favor to remain in his soul space.

For someone who regularly couldn’t perceive colors, Rose was impressed by the palette of the uniform. It consisted of a light blue polo with black lining and a white skirt with plaid inner box pleats. She tied her rose-pink blazer around her hips. Pulling her socks up to her calves and tying the laces of her red tennis shoes, she was ready to head to Mr. Farga’s art class. As she walked begrudgingly to the room, the thought occurred to her:

“That’s right…Dezel can actually see in his soul space, can’t he? How does he know what colors things are if he doesn’t know the real-life references? Does he just guess? But this version of him also wears sunglasses, so maybe he’s blind again? But then, how can he be an art teacher?”

With neverending questions, Rose slid the door to the art room open. She dropped her bag in disbelief.

Sorey and Alisha were sitting in his class, but they were wearing dog ears and tails and plastic snouts. The other students… _were_ dogs.

“Now, let’s begin with the most basic of art practices—drawing a circle,” Mr. Farga began. Without turning his back to his students, he swung his arm around and drew a perfect circle. “It’s vital to use your body and the laws of physics to create the perfect circle. You might be wondering how physics applies to art, and while I’m not a scientist like Ms. Lala nor physically abled like Coach Veid, I can assure you that it works.” He stopped his lecture to signal Rose to go to her seat. “Now, let’s continue…”

The red-haired girl sat next to Sorey and Alisha. She whispered to them about why the room was full of dogs and why Mr. Farga was teaching art to them.

“W-Woof!” Alisha yipped.

“Bark bark!” Sorey joined.

Rose just stared at them.

“Sorey, Alisha, is Rose disturbing you?” Mr. Farga questioned. He shook his head. “I should have known a delinquent like you would just cause more problems. Out in the hall. And take these buckets of water with you.”

“I just got here!” Rose argued.

The other dog students turned and growled at her. She lost the fight, and without another word, she obeyed the teacher. She took the buckets of water with her and stood in the hall with her arms out and holding them up.

“Corporal punishment for talking in class should be illegal,” she dejectedly muttered. She was glad, though, because she could think.

Why would Dezel be teaching dogs? It was way too weird for it to just be something simple like being obsessed with the furry animals. He did like it when people were obedient and didn’t ask too many questions, but he wasn’t the type to harp on that kind of stuff. Eventually something broke her thoughts; it was the principal of the school. Cardinal Forton walked down the hall with a dignified stride.

“Hmph, another delinquent?” she sneered just out of earshot. “Farga doesn’t seem to understand what it means to ‘train’ a dog to listen. I’ll have to speak with him afterwards.” She stopped in front of her. “And what did he kick you out of class for?”

“Talking,” Rose curtly replied.

“Figures. It seems he still hasn’t learned the measures this academy takes to teach brats to behave.”

As if on cue, the students emptied out of the room, leaving Mr. Farga alone to gather his papers and tidy up. Forton dragged Rose back into the room by her collar with a nasty scowl. Confronting him about his lack of disciplinary measures, she violently pushed her towards him.

“What is this, Farga? Denying a student her education again instead of addressing the problem again?” the principal jeered.

Mr. Farga didn’t respond. He simply held Rose close—too close for her liking as far as the student-teacher boundary was concerned. But it wasn’t a hold that suggested intimacy or lust; it felt like he was trying to protect her from Forton.

“We talked about this. When a student misbehaves in class, you discipline them.”

“I know that. I was going to—”

“How do you discipline a student who talks during class? You smack them so hard that their jaw might as well fly off!”

Mr. Farga’s grip on Rose tightened as the vile woman stomped up to her. He turned her around so that her face was safely buried in his chest. Forton’s hand swiped above the back of the ruby-red head and into his mouth. He curled his lips inwardly in pain and tempered anger.

“How dare you!” Forton cried out. “Protecting a delinquent?!”

“She is my student, so I will deal with her how I see fit,” Mr. Farga told Forton.

The principal gritted her teeth. The next words that spewed her from mouth were venom, stinging Rose and Mr. Farga’s hearts alike:

“You’re a fucking failure! A piece of shit teacher who can’t even see what he’s teaching! How will your students think of you when they find out that you can’t even discipline the one that disrupted their learning?! How will this girl think of you when she learns that she can get away with everything! What should I do now? Oh, I get it. You two are in a relationship! A dirty teacher and a horrid slut! Why don’t you two wastes of life elope together? You’re not needed here! No one will ever need you! Abandonment! Abandonment!”

With that, Forton left the two of them seething. Rose couldn’t even begin to imagine what had just happened. Her head was pounding worse than before, but the tightening around her arms pulled her attention from the pain. They stood there for a while, time frozen in that room where she felt him starting to tremble.

“M-My students…need me…They want me here…right?” Mr. Farga quivered.

Rose couldn’t believe that Dezel was crying…or perhaps he was finally releasing it because his jaw hurt so much.

“Dez—Mr. Farga, do you want to go somewhere and talk?” Rose gently asked. She hoped he would. It would help solve the mystery of why Dezel had lost control of his emotions in front of Slenge.

“That’s not appropriate,” he sniffled. “Students and teachers can’t be alone with each other. It’s too dangerous and inappropriate. I’m not the kind of teacher that preys on his students, you know.”

“But what Forton said just now! That wasn’t right!”

“S-She’s right…I need to learn…how to discipline…”

“What are you…?”

Mr. Farga stood Rose in front of him. He raised his hand, and through the darkened lenses of his sunglasses, she saw a frightened and pained look. He was suffering. He was told to hit her, but he clearly didn’t want to. He was simply being obedient, doing what he was told to do, doing what was expected of him as a teacher.

“I-I’m sorry…!” he breathed.

“Dezel, stop this madness!” Rose frantically begged.

Mr. Farga flinched. He pushed her aside and ran out the door, leaving all of his papers behind in a bag on his desk. She chased after him, but without knowing exactly what was within this level of the soul space, she didn’t know where to go.

“Dezel! Dezel, where did you go?” she called for him. She ventured closer and closer to a mysterious darkness at the edge of the level. It was slowly encroaching like a dreadful storm. “What the hell is that?”

Windur scrambled to her feet from the Stonehenge as fast as it could. “You’ve got to leave this area!” it warned. “The Nothing is coming back!”

“The Nothing? What is that?”

According to Windur, the Nothing was a wave of emotional emptiness that covered the soul space when Dezel’s heart was shaken. The Normin governing his soul had thought that it only occurred in accordance with traumatizing events in reality, but it seemed to have formed after the episode with Forton’s berating. It would swallow the soul space if she didn’t find out the problem.

Desperate, Rose left the edge and headed for the city. There she spotted Mr. Farga stepping into a dog kennel. She followed him in, peeking around the corner of the playroom to find her seraph surrounded by puppies and old dogs alike as he sang a little tune to them. She couldn’t quite hear what he was singing, yet her heart felt as ease. Perhaps it was seeing him happy for once with the only creatures he truly loved. The puppies were running around in circles while the older dogs placed their heads on his lap or near him so he could rest his hands on them. A couple of them sniffed Rose out, wagging their tails when she drew nearer out of her hiding spot.

“Ugh, I should have known you’d follow me,” Mr. Farga scoffed. “Don’t you get it? You’ve caused enough trouble, and if you’re looking for a relationship, it’s against the school rules.” He grimaced, turning back to his dogs and trying to push Rose’s presence out of his mind. “Can you please just leave me alone?”

Rose took a seat next to one of the dogs that had its head in his lap. She sat there quietly. Mr. Farga sighed before beginning his song again for the dogs. It was a simple song that listed all the characteristics about the furry animals and how much he loved them.

“I never thought you could make silly songs like these,” Rose giggled. “It makes you less scary and mean.”

“What’s wrong with liking dogs? They’re so cute and fluffy…and they don’t abandon the ones that love them…”

“Mr. Farga, what was Forton talking about when she said ‘abandonment’?”

The art teacher flinched again. He gripped his arms tightly, his sharp shark-like teeth biting his lip. When he had arrived at the academy, he was a newly certified teacher. Everyone including the students stepped on him. They would talk about how worthless he was because he was blind. Soon the other teachers ostracized him, and the students all left him. Eventually he had gotten permission to hold the class for dogs since he had no children to teach. Forton had allowed it as long as he disciplined them, but he never knew that it included disciplining human students as well.

“Sorey and Alisha?” Rose interrupted.

He nodded. “The kind of discipline that Forton talked about is illegal to use on human students, so they were required by her to dress as dogs. Gradually, I felt alone again.”

“Sounds like a real bitch—no pun intended.”

“Maybe I should resign…”

Rose snapped her head around to look at him. She didn’t want to hear him talk about giving up. The Dezel of this world was kind and wanting to help the community. His blindness potentially helped students to learn to use their other senses and imagination to paint.

“I can’t stand this. I hate how she’s treating you, but…I can’t solve your problem just being a student. I’ll get kicked out of the academy.”

“It’s not for you to get flustered about.”

Rose refused to take that as an answer. She took his wrist. “I probably got a dorm when I got here. Where do you stay? Actually, never mind, stay with me for the night. We’re going to practice telling off that jerk Forton!”

Mr. Farga blushed. “I-I can’t stay with a student!” he protested.

“We’re not sleeping until you’re ready to tell Forton to kiss your ass! I hope you like coffee, because that’s all we’re having tonight!”

Rose pulled Mr. Farga to the school dorms, carefully scanning the halls for other faceless students while sneaking him into her room. Much to her dismay, the room was rundown and growing mold in the corners above her bed. Thankfully, there was a manual coffee maker, so it wasn’t completely barren of necessities. The red-haired student coached her art teacher on what to say, how to say it, and when to say it. After twenty cups of black coffee and only an hour of sleep, Mr. Farga was ready to confront the abusive principal.

The two of them went to the classroom where they found that the door had been locked. Forton stood nearby with the key swinging around her thin finger.

“Decided to show up today? After I told you that you weren’t needed here?” she hissed.

Rose discreetly placed a hand on his back. She knew he could do it. Mr. Farga deeply appreciated her support. He faced Forton with a stoic posture and a roaring voice:

“I quit!” he said with every ounce of dignity he could muster. The declaration took Forton by surprise.

“You quit? You can’t just quit!” she argued back.

“Watch me. I’m so tired of you holding that over my head. So what if I was abandoned by everyone? So what if I’m blind and I can’t really teach? You never took the time to find out what I can do. You don’t know what I’m capable of.” Mr. Farga faltered back not in recoil but for a second wind. Rose patted his back again. “There are painters in the world who can see through touch, and musicians who can smell their compositions! If you don’t want my talents here, then fine! I know there are others who support me. I’m through letting you control me through the fear of ending up alone.”

Forton’s mouth hung agape, and Rose smirked at her. She left with Mr. Farga, who couldn’t believe he had finally said what he wanted to say. They heard the rumbling of the Paradigm Shift opening up, and Rose noticed that the Nothing had receded. She knew that Dezel had to be feeling better.

Mr. Farga flinched at the warmth of the light coming from the Paradigm Shift. He wasn’t used to the euphoria that bounced and bubbled in his heart. “Rose…” he started. He searched for the words to show his gratitude. “T-Thank you. If you hadn’t…come along, I probably would have just continued to be frightened by her—Forton, I mean…” He tipped his beret over his sunglasses. “I really appreciate it.”

“Don’t thank me, just get it together in the real world,” Rose scolded. She took his hand, squeezing it with reassurance. “We’re a team whether you like it or not, and I don’t like it when my teammate is scared or in pain. I told you that I would do everything I could to help you. I’m going to make good on my promise every time something happens.”

Mr. Farga blushed deeper. “W-When did you become some…some knight in shining armor? God, I take it back. I’d rather have Forton tell me how worthless I am than to listen to your drivel.”

“Yeah, yeah.” She sent him towards the light chuckling and smiling the whole time. “I’ll see you on the next level.”

Mr. Farga nodded then disappeared into the light. Windur ran frantically to her side as if trying to catch the proprietor before he left, but it was too late.

“Things ended up working out!” Rose beamed.

“Great, but…” Windur scratched its cheek. “The next level is the real test. It’s going to be extremely dangerous from here on out. All I can say is don’t come back until you’re ready to see the brunt of his emotions and thoughts. B-But on the bright side, Dezel has a new ability now! That’s good, right? Right!” Windur looked so meek that Rose wasn’t sure if she should be concerned or happy or what. But now was not the time to wonder about it. She returned to reality.

\----------------------------------------------

Rose woke up on the bed as soon as she de-Armatized from Dezel, who was clutching his chest in his brief slumber. She was sure she would have died as soon as the Dive was over, but since her wind seraph was still knocked out for a couple more minutes and thus powerless, she could breathe easy. When he woke up, it was a different story. Dezel pinned her down, his grip like a vice on her wrists.

“You went in without my permission, you little brat!” he snarled. “Do you know what could have happened?! You could have died! If you die, I die! I’ll be rounded up in a heartbeat by the first human that realizes I don’t have any means of protection!” He sensed that she was trying to calm herself; he could feel it on his wind and hear her heartbeat in his ears as if it were his own. “Why did you risk it?” Rose kept quiet until Dezel loosened his grip. He did, but he refused to move off of her.

“I wanted to know why you attacked Slenge,” she quietly said. The walls were thin, and she couldn’t risk the others hearing their conversation. “You were ready to kill Slenge, yet I didn’t see the Pope in your soul space at all. I saw the Cardinal Forton of all people. She kept saying that you weren’t needed.”

“Stop.”

“I need to know, Dezel. Please, just tell me what happened to you. If I know, then I can protect you.”

“I said, stop! Stop poking your nose in my business!” He sat up straddling Rose, and once again, he looked so helpless and vulnerable that she could have flipped him over if she wanted to. “I can’t forgive them. I can’t, I can’t, I can’t. I need to hang onto my rage. I need to remember why I’m still here.” He slowly got off of her and went to the opposite corner of the room to sit and cool off. “I’m sorry. You’re angry with me, and you should be.”

Rose slid off the edge of the bed. “No, I’m not.”

“Just let me be alone for a little while.”

It was so strange seeing Dezel like this. She had to find out whatever happened to him. In the meantime, she could only grant his wish. It was going on to the dead of night, and surely Sorey wouldn’t want to go to where Slenge told them to meet him so late. Not to mention, he was probably still Diving with Edna.

Dezel dozed off despite having slept during the Dive, and while he did, Rose saw her chance to show him a little affection. She took the blanket from her bed and wrapped it around him before giving him a light good-night kiss on his cheek. She was content with just her jacket as long as he slept knowing that she wanted to help him. As she let sleep overcome her, Dezel raised his head in her direction, a small sad smile on his lips.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wasn't that a doozy of a chapter? Now updates may come slower (or you won't notice a difference in pace at all) because I have con stuff to do and real life stuff. Please bear with me, and I hope you keep reading. I've got a lot of stuff planned out for the future for this story, and I'm getting back into doing the first draft of artworks that are re-draws of the Ar Tonelico gallery pictures. So far only one Dezel so has music composed, but I'm going to revise it again and hopefully I can find someone to sing it...someone who is willing to learn Hymmnos for me. 
> 
>  
> 
> ~~(And as much as I would like someone Japanese or someone who knows Japanese, that's a lot to ask for. Another really nice thing would be Dezel's VA, but AHAHAHAHA that'll never happen.)~~


	48. Phase 2:  Drinking Game

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cosmosphere Level 5: Edna  
>  _Ma num ra chs pic wasara mea,_  
>  _en fwal syec mea._  
>  _Was yea ra chs mea yor_  
>  _en fwal en chs hymme._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know I said I probably wouldn't update for a while, but I've made some progress on my cosplay, and I really can't do much else until my mom can help me lace up the back and help cut a dress to turn into Velvet's coat. So for now, here's another Dive for our lovely Edna, based on a Misha level. Can you find the little easter egg in this chapter? It's from another favorite game of mine~

Sorey let out a sigh of relief. He had felt so heavy laying in bed from whatever sickness he had caught, and it felt so nice to move around again. And as much as he wanted to go out and explore the village, duty called. He and Edna were to Dive to figure out a way to deal with the fallen boulders that hid an entrance into the cave behind the village. The Shepherd, however, couldn’t easily forget about what was going on between Rose and Dezel.

“It’s not my place to know, but Dezel’s outburst is something of an anomaly, don’t you think?” he asked those who were still there in the room. Mikleo sat by his side while Zaveid rubbed his neck. Alisha and Lailah were silent with worry. “It’s not like him to get worked up like that.”

“Whether it is or not, it’s definitely not your place to worry about it,” Edna reminded him. She spun her umbrella on her shoulder. “Dezel is Rose’s seraph, so only she can ask him to open his heart, and only she can know what’s troubling him. As for you,” she stepped up to him, her emotionless ice-blue eyes staring up at him, “You’ve got a Dive into a certain earth seraph to do.”

Sorey knew she was right, and it would be detrimental to focus on something that he couldn’t hope to control. He Armatized with Edna.

\----------------------------------------

Sorey met with Edna in the shared soul space where she seemed slightly more reluctant than usual. He asked her what was wrong, and she hesitated before speaking.

_“It’s been a while, and you’re heading into the fifth level,”_ she said. _“Things are going get nastier, and if I could tell you what was going to happen, I’d better prepare you.”_

The Shepherd placed a hand on her head and offered a warming smile. It was all she needed to feel a little better about the Dive.

\----------------------------------------

The world in the fifth level was something closer to a port town. The houses were carved into the side of a sea-facing mountain with networks of stairs and crossings crisscrossing around. Little windmills gently turned in the breeze, and cargo was transported from the ships via pulleys. It was something beyond Sorey’s wildest imagination—like places he had read about in the Celestial Record! He couldn’t believe it; had Edna gone to the places he and Mikleo wished to visit?

“So you’ve made it to the fifth level,” Phoenix nonchalantly said from behind Sorey. The golden Normin climb up on the banister of the stairs that led up to the town square of wherever they had come. “What do you think?”

The air tasted salty, and the coos of seagulls and the chatter of unknown villagers rang through the cobblestone streets. It was so different and bright that Sorey admitted he had a hard time believing that Edna had imagined such a place.

“Edna never went to Taliesin,” Phoenix admitted. “Her brother Eizen came here a few times with his companions. Someone else you know also used to live here. But Edna also read about a vibrant city in a picture book that her brother had sent her as gift. It was named…Ritardando, I believe. Edna loved that story when she was a child.”

“How long have you known Edna?” Sorey asked the Normin.

“That’s a secret. Anyway, enough from me. It’s about time you go and look for the girl.”

Phoenix shooed Sorey away towards the town called Taliesin. He glanced around at all the homes until he saw a small girl—probably around the size of an elementary school girl—wearing a pink smock and carrying a large bottle of Draconique absinthe. Sorey couldn’t be surprised, but he thought it was suspicious why a young child was allowed to walk around with a massive bottle of liquor.

“Edna, is that you?” he asked gently.

“W-Who are you?” Edna stammered. She clung on the bottle for fear that Sorey was going to take it away from her. “T-This is for my father! I swear!”

Sorey shushed her. In a soft voice, he told her that he didn’t want to cause her any trouble. “Did your father send you to get it? How about I help you? Can you show me where you live?” he offered. The young seraph looked him over timidly. “Edna?”

Suddenly an older girl with long white hair appeared at the earth seraph’s side. Her teal-colored eyes drilled holes into his face before she stepped in front of Edna to protect her. “How dare you approach a girl on the streets! Only the lowest of the low would do that,” she chastised.

“H-Hold on!” Sorey said. “I just wanted to help her. That bottle is almost twice her size. What if she falls and hurts herself? Besides, isn’t it kind of sketchy for a little girl to be carrying around that much alcohol?” Then he recognized the white-haired girl. “Lady Shurelia?”

“My name is Rei, and I will take care of my sister from here!”

Rei took the bottle of absinthe in her arm and tugged on Edna’s wrist. The two of them hastily made their way back home on a sea-facing side of one of the stone homes. Sorey was beside himself; what was Shurelia doing in Edna’s soul space? And why was Edna so scared? It wasn’t like her at all. He followed them to their house, peeking through the window as best as he could without giving away his position.

The inside of their house was in ruins. Things had been thrown about and walls were cracked. Rei and Edna were huddled in a corner opposite to a man with long white-to-green hair who was flopped over. Rei carefully stepped forward with the bottle of absinthe.

“F-Father, we got this for you,” she fearfully said. “It’s the one you wanted, yes?”

“Finally, you good-for-nothing wench!” the man berated. His amber eyes blazing like fire, he snatched the bottle from her, downing it all in three gulps. “What the hell? That’s all you got?!”

“F-Father, you shouldn’t drink so much at once!”

“You think you can tell me what to do?” The man stood up, and Sorey got a good look at who he was. “How about you do as you’re told and bring me more alcohol!”

“Zaveid, stop!” the Shepherd called out from the window. He was there plain as day, but seeing him reach for Rei’s hair and preparing to beat her in front of Edna scared him into action. “What are you doing?!”

“Who the fuck are you?” Zaveid grumbled.

Rei and Edna looked over at Sorey, and both of them were amazed to see him stand up to him. Sorey came inside the house as if to challenge him.

“This isn’t right, Zaveid!” Sorey protested him. “They’re your daughters. You can’t treat them like this!” He beckoned Edna to his side, but Rei was out of his reach as long as she was in Zaveid’s grasp. “Let her go.”

“Or what, you piece of crap? You’ll call the guards on me?”

“Young man, just leave! Take Edna to safety!” Rei pleaded. “The only way he’ll be sated is if he gets more of the alcohol he so dearly loves.”

Sorey was pushed out without so much as his two cents. Edna clung to his leg, frightened for what Zaveid might do to her sister. He promised her that he wouldn’t let Rei get hurt, but he didn’t know where to get that alcohol. Edna had reportedly gone out of town to get it, and he knew that there was no way that he would be able to go beyond the town’s boundaries. So where could they get that Draconique absinthe?

“Mister, look! Down there by the docks!” Edna said as pointed towards the sea. Sitting on the edge was the present version of Edna dressed in a royal purple kimono decorated with all types of flowers. Next to her was a large bottle of absinthe and two smaller bottles of sake and whiskey. “I can see the bottle!”

Sorey picked up Edna and hurried down to the docks to the older version of herself. “Excuse me!” he called to her. The older Edna turned to Sorey with a sly look. “Can we have that bottle of absinthe? A friend is in trouble, and if we don’t get it, she’ll get hurt.”

The older Edna smirked, looking over Sorey and her younger self. She took up the bottle and turned it around and around in her hands. “You want this?” she asked mischievously. “Then give me 100,000 gald.”

Sorey and Edna’s eyes nearly popped out of their heads. Such a sum of money for a bottle of booze was beyond ridiculous on top of completely impossible! But it was the only bottle within the area permitted by the soul space, and with no other way of obtaining it, there was no choice. Sorey agreed to the wager.

The older Edna poured him a glass full of the liquor and only stopping when he stuttered, “I-I don’t drink.”

“Huh? You don’t drink?” the older Edna mocked. She turned to her younger self. Sorey pulled her behind his leg. “Well, guess you won’t be getting the booze then unless you can find someone to represent you.” She promptly shooed them away.

Beside themselves, Sorey and the child Edna climbed the stairs back to the square. The latter was quite disappointed that the Shepherd had never allowed a single drop of alcohol touch his lips, which wounded him. The child Edna was glad, though, because it meant that older men could live witout being drunk every waking minute of their lives.

“What do we do now?” Edna asked. “If we don’t find someone, we can’t get that bottle!” Sorey knelt to meet her large cerulean eyes. He silently promised her that he would save her sister.

They began the search for the ultimate drinker. The first one they came to was a man with long black hair that covered one eye. He wore traditional Japanese clothes like a samurai, but he himself wielded daggers. He had a bottle of sake tied to his side.

“Excuse me!” Sorey called out to him. “Can we ask you a favor?” He explained the predicament to the man, escorted him to the Edna sitting on the dock, and hoped that he would suffice. Within seconds of guzzling down as much as he could of the endless bottle of absinthe, the man tapped out. He stumbled away. “What the heck?” Sorey whispered in disbelief.

“You’ll need to find someone with a stronger stomach if you want to beat me,” Edna laughed. She raised a glass to him.

It was back to the drawing board, and Sorey and the child Edna pondered again who they could ask. This time they found Eizen, who in this level was not Edna’s older brother. He had no relation to Edna or Rei. He was simply a pirate which an eternal thirst for whiskey. So they took him to the Edna sitting on the dock. And, just like the man before, Eizen was soundly defeated by the older Edna.

“This isn’t fair at all! You’re cheating!” the child Edna whined. “He’s a pirate! Pirates can drink a lot of alcohol!”

“Well, I proved you wrong,” the older Edna nonchalantly said.

Sorey took Edna away again to think. A samurai-like man was useless. A pirate could easily be beaten. They couldn’t ask Zaveid. Who else could they go to? Time was running out for Rei.

A loud belch echoed from outside the inn that was inaccessible to Sorey because it was a boundary in the soul space. A brown Normin was gulping down bottle after bottle of spirits. It didn’t appear to get drunk or even a little tipsy. Edna knew that this creature was their last chance, and she had to ask for its help.

“You want what?” the Normin burped.

“We need your help to outdrink a lady!” Edna pleaded.

Sorey rested his hand on Edna’s head when he saw that the Normin wasn’t interested in the slightest about the drinking game. So he took over. The Normin was named Blarb, and its pudgy spongy body was the reason is could drink so much. After explaining to it everything that had happened, the Shepherd waited anxiously to hear its response.

“What’s in it for me?” Blarb gruffly asked.

“Uh…m-more alcohol?” Sorey stuttered, unsure how to answer its question.

Blarb snorted, reluctantly getting up from where it was sitting among its empty bottles and followed Sorey and Edna to the dock. The ornamented earth seraph scrutinized the Normin before bursting into laughter.

“Is this really the best that you can do?” Edna guffawed. “Ha, fine! Let’s go!”

And the drinking began. Edna chugged the absinthe endlessly, only taking short breaks to catch her breath. Blarb, on the other hand, simply inhaled its share of the alcohol. It didn’t stop, and Edna started to worry that she had been matched. She kept drinking and drinking and drinking until finally her body couldn’t take it anymore. After an hour of nonstop drinking, Edna pulled her bottle from her lips. Gasping for air, she held her head.

“N-No…I…I feel dizzy…” she huffed. “I…I can’t lose…”

“Give it up, princess,” Blarb gurgled. It was _still_ guzzling down its alcohol, this time emptying two bottles at once. “You ain’t gonna win this time.”

Edna held her head as she held up the absinthe to Sorey, Blarb, and her younger self. While the Shepherd was concerned for her, there were more pressing matters. He carried the smaller two as best as he could with the bottle under his arm. But when they arrived at Edna’s house’s door, he was horrified to find it locked.

“Rei!” Edna panicked.

“Zaveid, open the door! We got you more absinthe!” Sorey bargained.

No one came to the door, but they could clearly see Rei and Zaveid fighting. Or rather, Rei was defending herself against the wind seraph.

“They can’t hear us,” Edna almost cried.

“What can we do?” Sorey asked.

“We can break the door down!” Blarb immediately answered. It began to glow and suddenly the previous Normin Sorey had met appeared—Urth, Priventi, and Phoenix. They greeted each other. “Alright, I need your power to use Giant’s Fist.”

The other three Normin glimmered as they chanted out one by one three lines:

_Wee yea ra arsye anw murfanare mea tes yor_  
_Ma yea ra riomo jouee oz dor_  
_Wee yea ra chs yor pawr mea_

Blarb pulled its arm back then punched the door down with all the force of a titan. The door shot past Zaveid and Rei and into the wall behind them. Sorey drew his sword, angling it at Zaveid’s neck and watching him carefully as Rei rejoined Edna outside. He would have never thought that the shirtless wind seraph would go so far as to attempt to hurt an innocent person.

“Zaveid, we brought you the bottle, so there’s no reason for you to be like this anymore,” Sorey sternly said.

Zaveid glanced down at the bottle of absinthe before standing up straight. He took the bottle, rolled it around in his hands to see every inch of it, and threw it on the ground. Sorey was flabbergasted; after all the work he and Edna had put into looking for someone or something that could defeat the kimono-dressed Edna, he couldn’t help but be annoyed that Zaveid had wasted it. But the wind seraph walked passed him, fell to his knees and hugged Rei and the child Edna. Sorey couldn’t quite hear him, but it sounded as if he was apologizing to them.

Phoenix stepped to Sorey’s side. He knew that he wouldn’t understand. “I can’t tell you everything, but in case you haven’t noticed, there’s a certain connection between this soul space and another soul space,” it cryptically said. “There’s more to this story, and if you want to better understand Edna’s heart, you’ll need to uncover the whole truth.”

Sorey listened to the strange family. “Edna, Rei, can you ever forgive me?” Zaveid wept.

Rei seemed reluctant, but Edna hugged Zaveid around his neck. “You know that what you did was wrong, and you want to be nice now,” the little earth seraph kindly said.

Without a reason to intrude on the scene, Sorey reflected on the power that the Normin had used. Phoenix gave him a nonchalant smile. Using the Normin, Edna now had the ability to use Giant’s Fist, which allowed her to grind boulders and other objects to dust with a single punch. The only drawback was that she would be overcome with a temporary aching throughout her body. The strength of a titan wasn’t a power without consequence, after all.

The sun began to set on the town of Taliesin as the light of the Paradigm Shift burst from the Stonehenge. Edna said her farewells to her family on the fifth level of her soul space while holding onto Sorey’s hand. Zaveid couldn’t stop the tears from flowing; he was like the doting father that she never had.

At the Stonehenge, Sorey led Edna to just before the light. She smiled at him, and it was a smile he had never seen from her. It was a grateful, bittersweet one that thanked him for helping her. Eizen was only a minor character this time, and he had to wonder if it was because she was slowly letting go or if it was because Zaveid had become the newest addition to their team. It was like Phoenix said—he had to reveal the whole truth if he wanted to understand her. He would have to Dive into Zaveid soon, but because he was an IPD, he would need Edna’s help.

“Are you going to come back?” Edna asked Sorey.

“Of course I will!” Sorey promised. “You’re a friend, and I want to help you grow.”

Edna giggled before running into the light. After the Paradigm Shift ended, Phoenix and Blarb met with him. Both of them looked uncomfortable.

“Are you sure you’re willing to come back? The next level, Edna’s heart will be showing her truest and ugliest feelings. Are you prepared for that responsibility and the risks that it entails?” Phoenix asked. It was surprisingly defensive. “The hearts of seraphim of precious things.”

“Y-You’re making it sound like I’m taking her hand in marriage,” Sorey sheepishly said.

“That’s because the next level is probably the most dangerous one. No matter what, you cannot allow her persona to trick you.”

Sorey slowly nodded before he returned to reality.

\------------------------------------------------

Sore woke up to find Alisha and Lailah hovering over Edna, who was complaining about her body aching. Mikleo, apparently annoyed about something, dragged him over to her. He placed his hands on his hips and turned away with a prominent pout.

“W-What’s wrong?” Sorey asked.

“What did you do to me, you idiot?” Edna growled. “Everything hurts!”

Alisha stomped up to him. “Don’t you know to be gentle with girls? And you’re already in a relationship with Mikleo, right? Isn’t this—”

“Hold on! The…The only thing I did…Alisha, Lailah, Mikleo—I need you all to leave right now!” Sorey ordered, blushing deeply. They unhappily did as they were told and gave them the privacy that they needed to talk about the Dive. Sorey only then realized that Zaveid had gone off somewhere. “Edna, I swear I didn’t do anything to you.”

“I know you didn’t,” Edna bluntly said. “I was only messing with you.” She sat up, wincing a little at the pain that permeated her body. “Judging from this, you managed to get the Giant’s Fist ability. “It’ll be strange to use the village entrance into that cave, so we can go through the back and clear the way.”

Sorey nodded. That was the plan from the start, but now it was within reach. Once Rose and Dezel were ready, they could meet with Slenge in the cave.

Meanwhile, Zaveid sat in Rose and Dezel’s room. He had asked Rose to step out so he could talk with the younger wind seraph, and even though the assassin tried her damnedest to hear what was going on in the room, she couldn’t make out anything that they were saying. Alisha scolded her a little, but she knew that she was worried about Dezel. If Lailah had attacked Slenge and then blew up about it after, she would have been as well. The two wind seraphim finally came out of the room the same time that Sorey and Edna came out. Dezel slowly approached Rose, sticking his hand out to her with a hint of disdain. Rose cautiously took it in a handshake, but Zaveid cleared his throat.

“Dezel, we talked,” he reminded.

Rose looked at Sorey then Alisha when suddenly Dezel snatched her into his arms. He hugged her tightly. “I’m sorry for yelling,” he said, the unfamiliar words fumbling off his tongue as if he had never sincerely apologized.

“Ah, the sweet sound of children getting along,” Zaveid grinned.

“Wait, so you were all sulky just because you wanted them to make up?” Mikleo interrogated.

“Teamwork is the vital essence of staying alive, so yes!”

Sorey laughed knowing that things were slightly better than before. But the time for laughing and goofing around was over. They had to meet with Slenge in the cave behind the village. The Shepherd called his seraphim inside while Lailah and Dezel did the same with their respective Squires. The three of them left the inn. The air was dry and brisk. With the sun shining through the dismal clouds over the malevolence-filled village of Gododdin, they were ready to take on whatever it was Slenge had in store.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You know what grinds my gears? When people talk shit about Zaveid. He's had it rough, and the fact that he's basically the happy dad of the group and has taken care of children (including Dezel and possibly Edna for a short time) makes him that much more interesting and not a bad replacement--actually I don' think he should be compare to Dezel anyway. I love everyone from Zestiria, and dammit he needs love too! /rant


	49. Phase 2:  Burning Passion and the Flame of Lust

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cosmosphere Level 6: Lailah  
>  _Ma num ra chs pic wasara mea,_  
>  _en fwal syec mea._  
>  _Was yea ra chs mea yor_  
>  _en fwal en chs hymme._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So my Velvet cosplay was a bust, and I ended up not going to Metrocon, resulting in me being depressed for exactly one day before my Eleanor/Edna and I agreed to do a photoshoot together, and my roommate (bless her soul) is willing take our pictures, which will go on all my social media. My Lailah also gave me two Sorey and Mikleo charms. All these character name drops probably have you confused, right? Good! Hopefully for Holiday Matsuri, I can perfect Velvet and wear her.
> 
> This chapter is very, very closely written according to Misha's 6th cosmosphere, but I did try to add a little variation of it and I definitely gave Lailah some Khaleesi Dany traits. This is the first of the confession chapters (so named in the Ar Tonelico games), so they will all be pretty similar to the in-game levels due to the nature of them albeit where I can change them a little. Anyway, I'm rambling now. Being somewhat cut off from society does that, you know?

Edna stood before the boulders that blocked the path to the back entrance of the cave with her umbrella spinning on her shoulder. She was sizing up the rocks, and with her new ability, she pulverized them in the blink of an eye. As before, her body was wracked with pain, and she snapped at anyone who so much as brushed past her. Sorey thanked her and asked her to return inside to recover. The cave was now accessible. A wave of excitement overcame the Shepherd as he led his friends into the mouth and around the winding tunnel to cases and cases of fake elixirs and glowing red vermillion ore. Lailah came out to see the ore. She was both amazed and horrified. Sorey’s smile morphed into a perplexed frown upon seeing her reaction.

“Vermillion ore has plenty of uses, but ingesting it is toxic,” she informed. “The dust that comes from mining them kills people by causing the formation of tumors in their lungs, and eventually, the person loses the ability to breathe.” She knew that it was being used in the elixirs based on the proximity of the cases to the large ores that had been exposed, and it made the fire seraph’s heart ache.

“Should we take a few pieces of these?” Zaveid asked her.

“What do you take me for?!” Lailah asked him. “I would never use ore that’s been used for commercial purposes or as an additive in fake products!” She crossed her arms and pouted at him. “To think I would use something that is hurting people—how insulting.”

Rose and Sorey were surprised that she took so much offense to the ore. Zaveid simply played off it, stating that such beautiful and deadly ore would be useful for someone that was a seraphic embodiment of it. Alisha gave him a disproving look. He of all people should have known that the fire seraph was already taken; such flirtatious jests were not appreciated.

“Shepherd! Over here!” Slenge called out to them after hearing Lailah cry out against Zaveid.

He waved them over, and when they met with him, they found that he had been waiting in front of a stone door with the emblem of fire above it. Intense heat radiated from behind the door through the narrow crack which allowed just enough space for fingers to grip the edges. Sorey, Rose, and Alisha were already sweating and finding it hard to breathe with the hot air blowing on their faces.

“This is…” Lailah said with fear and awe. “This is the Shrine of the Fire Trial.”

“Correct, this is Igraine,” Slenge added. He stood before the stone door. “This is the Shepherd’s Sacred Trial of Fire.”

“But Lailah isn’t bonded to Sorey,” Edna told him.

“That’s quite alright. The system has changed since the previous Shepherd to prevent corruption and early death. While it is only in the name, the same idea applies. The Squire who guards the fire seraph’s soul has a number of tasks ahead of her.”

Slenge waited for Alisha to step up beside her dear fire seraph. She was required to Dive into the sixth level of Lailah’s soul space to prepare her for the end of the trial. Slenge couldn’t tell her why or what lie ahead of them, but he stressed that the Dive was important. Sorey and his friends were allowed to aid her through the trial, but ultimately it was up to Alisha to complete it.

“Are you ready?” Slenge asked. “Once the Dive is complete, I will unlock the door into the trial.”

Alisha peered at Lailah from the corner of her eye, and she could sense that the fire seraph was willing to do it. But it was different. The princess had completed her soul space once already before she was forced to start over thanks to Bartlow’s experiments, yet there was no telling if events would be the same. She remembered that the sixth level was particularly dangerous. But there was no getting around it; she had to complete it.

“ _Fethmus Mioma_ ,” Alisha resolutely said. She Armatized with Lailah, her warmth flowing through her like lava. As she sat on the ground, she closed her eyes, appearing like she was meditating.

Sorey felt strange. He was the Shepherd, and part of him wished it was him that was doing it. He wasn’t jealous. He was concerned. He remembered what Phoenix had told him in Edna’s soul space—the next level was particularly dangerous, and he couldn’t allow the persona to trick him. Alisha, no doubt, was going through the same thing. He knew that he would have to venture into that level for all of his seraphim and Rose would have to do it to Dezel. Rose…would have to brave the most dangerous level by herself with a bloodthirsty seraph. If he could be the one to brave each Dive, he would have.

Then Mikleo took his hand.

He couldn’t do that to his beloved water seraph. Throwing caution to the wind and risking his life would crush his heart. All he could do was wait and help Alisha when she needed assistance.

As Alisha underwent the Dive into Lailah’s heart, Slenge turned to Sorey and asked him if he had seen the sacred inscriptions in the shrinechurch. When he confirmed he did but couldn’t read it, Sorey asked the former Pope about it.

“It says,” Slenge began. “‘The Shepherd is granted four powers: earth, water, fire, and wind. They are the blade that shall cleave the Lord of Calamity. Scattered across this land are the shrines of trials. They, too, are of earth, water, fire, and wind. Tests they are of power and spirit. The power is brought forth in the spirit, and the spirit captures the power. With balance may malevolence be purified; with imbalance does the body smolder and burn. Test thyself, Shepherd, and brandish thy might. Rise to the challenge, and stake thy will on the outcome.’”

“The ancient inscription!” Sorey lit up. Of course, he had asked to know what it said, but he didn’t expect to hear it word-for-word.

“Every Pope must memorize it. First, it had been written in the ancient tongue, but it was later transcribed to Carmena Foreluna—a variant of Ar Ciela suited for human usage. As I mentioned before, the rules have sinced changed so Shepherds don’t die from the overwhelming burden of housing four seraphim at once or that too many seraphim aren’t put into the wrong hands. Remembering the new inscription in that language made things easier and better encoded from those with malicious intent.

Slenge cleared his throat.

“Please keep these words in mind even if your Squires are there to help shoulder your burden. There are more than just a few that wish for your failure.” He looked at Rose, who was busy poking Dezel for fun until Alisha and Lailah woke up again. “That goes for all three of you.”

\----------------------------------------

In the shared soul space, Lailah waited for Alisha. She looked nervous. _“You’ll be going into a hellish world soon,”_ the fire seraph warned her. _“It won’t be like last time. I may try to kill you. Promise me that you will be careful.”_

Alisha held her hands and kissed her forehead. _“I survived before, I can do it again. Besides, I want to see what will happen after this Dive. New things are bound to happen now that we have journeyed so much.”_

Lailah trusted her. Alisha tenderly touched the center of her chest, and the subsequent light brought her to the sixth level within her heart.

\----------------------------------------

Alisha appeared in a forest. She was far from the Stonehenge, and Atakk could be seen running towards her through the thickets and bushes. “Princess Alisha!” it cried. “You shouldn’t be here! The sixth level this time—it’s horribly dangerous and scary!” It tried to push her back towards wherever she came from. “You need to leave!”

“I’m sorry, Atakk, but I have to do this,” Alisha said. She left the helmet-wearing Normin alone. Travelling deeper and deeper into forest, she finally came to a familiar face. It was Rose. “Huh? I don’t remember meeting Rose here before.”

“Alisha! Can you help me? I got separated from Dezel, and now I’m lost!” she panicked. It seemed uncharacteristic of her, but such was the nature of the cosmosphere. “If I don’t find him, I don’t know what I’ll do!”

The princess vowed she would help her find Dezel, but they searched and searched, and it truthfully felt like they were going in circles sometimes until the assassin finally broke down. She cried out her worries that Dezel was dead and gone or was captured by greedy people and forced to do their bidding or had just abandoned her. Alisha tried to console her, but something rustled behind them before she could say anything. Now Sorey emerged from the bushes.

“Sorey? What are—you weren’t here before either,” Alisha said. It was weird. The sixth level had changed so drastically since the first time. “Can you help us find Dezel?” she nonetheless asked.

“Sorry, but I don’t have time for that,” he told her. Drawing his sword, he nodded to Rose. “Thanks, Rose, I owe you one.”

Alisha looked back at the assassin, who quickly stabbed a dagger into her arm to disarm her then kicked her spear away. “W-What is the meaning of this?!” Alisha gasped. She moaned in pain as she tried to stop the blood from pouring out of her wound. “What is going on?!”

“You’re being captured and taken to our Lady,” Sorey smiled maliciously. “It’s a labor of love. After all, she’s been waiting for you.” Alisha didn’t like the sound of that. And Sorey was scaring her. Using the pommel of his sword, he knocked her unconscious and after throwing her over his shoulder, he carried her to Lailah’s castle on the other side of the shaded soul space.

Lailah’s castle was decorated with vermillion ores and chains and pool of lava. Despite all the fire, it was dark inside like the light was shining into a vacuum. Alisha saw the other seraphim—Sorey’s and Rose’s—asleep and chained to the walls like dogs. They all had burns.

“Lady Lailah, we’ve brought her,” Sorey announced as the scantily-clad fire seraph walked down her spiral staircase to meet them.

Rose kept a tight grip on Alisha’s tied wrists. “She suffered some damage, but it’s only a flesh wound. Promise!”

“Flesh wound?” Alisha spat. “You stabbed me! Really deep at that!”

Lailah waved them away as she took Alisha by her rope tie. “Oh, my precious Alisha, I’m sure they didn’t mean to hurt you. Humans are careless like that, you know. But not you—you always know how to take care of me, and I always repay you,” she giggled seductively.

She burned the rope around her wrists. Alisha didn’t do anything but stand there anxiously; Lailah had been like this before, but it wasn’t the same. She was more malicious—much more. Alisha could see it in her eyes and hear it in her voice. But the fire seraph was still playful. She led her to a small round bed, and after climbing onto it, the princess finally had to ask her:

“What happened to your clothes? Aren’t you cold with just a shirt on?”

Lailah let out a haughty laugh. “Cold? Alisha, darling, you know I’m a fire seraph. I never feel cold.” She got on her hand and knees so that the tops of her breasts were before Alisha’s eyes. “I’ll let you know a little secret. I’m not wearing anything underneath either.”

Alisha wasn’t amused by this behavior. She was repulsed by it since Lailah wasn’t one to exude such lustful desire. When the fire seraph, queen of her castle, pulled her to the bed, Alisha snatched her hand away, something that Lailah greatly disliked.

“What are you doing?” she questioned sharply.

“This isn’t right,” Alisha told her. She took a step back to ensure that Lailah couldn’t throw her off-balance. “You’re not you.”

“What are you talking about? You want it, too, don’t you? I can feel it in the depths of your soul! So, then why?”

“I’m doing this for your own good, Lailah. I’m not doing anything with you like this.”

“What’s that supposed to mean? ‘For my own good’? You’re just making excuses! Don’t you love me? Aren’t I enough for you? Is there another person?!”

Alisha didn’t remember Lailah ever getting this angry. She thought it was impossible for her to get so angry. 

“You don’t care about me, do you!” She pulled out her papers which commanded her flames. “I think you need a little timeout, Princess. Dangling in a volcano should remind you who you’re dealing with!”

Alisha was unable to escape the flaming vortex that encircled her. It was a homemade prison and after a blinding light enveloped the world, she found herself doing precisely what Lailah had promised. Glowing orange lava bubbled underneath her while she was tied and hung from a peak that jutted out of the throat wall of the mountain. She was dumbfounded. How could Lailah do this to her? Then she noticed that the lava was climbing towards her.

“A-Am I really going to die here?” Alisha gasped.

The lava was now only inches from the tip of her steel boots.

Wriggling about, she franctically screamed, “P-Please, someone! Someone help me!”

Something flew straight into her. It burned the rope that was holding her above the lava and rose high above the volcano. The one that had saved her…was Lailah. She wore all white, and all of her gold accents were polished silver. She had a pair of angel wings made of blue light.

“Are you alright, Alisha?” she asked. She gently brought her to the ground at the foot of the volcano. “She’s gone too far this time.”

Alisha took a moment to reorganize her thoughts. She had never seen this Lailah before. What’s more—she had a different air about her. She had a cool and calm demeanor albeit she was angry that the Lailah of this level had tried to murder their love.

“Who are you?” she finally asked.

“I am a Lailah from a deeper part of her heart,” the Silver Lailah told her. “I am her rationality, the protector of the most vulnerable part of her mind, and the substantiator of her oath, borne of the new feelings the real Lailah has developed on this adventure.”

“Oath?”

“She hasn’t told you? I imagine she wouldn’t to prevent you from worrying about her. Haven’t you noticed that she rarely ever talks about herself? Or that you don’t see anything from her past? This is all part of an oath that holds her life in balance. If she breaks it, she will lose her powers and most likely die.”

Alisha’s breath suddenly stopped. Everything stopped. Why would the fire seraph keep that a secret? Her precious Lailah had always been a moment away from death, and she never knew, never asked about it either.

“In due time, the truth will come, but not now. What we need to do now is find a way to trigger a Paradigm Shift and escape this hellish level.” The Silver Lailah turned to her.  
“Princess Alisha, focus.”

“Focus? You just told me that my Lailah could die at any minute!”

“As long as she doesn’t break her oath, she won’t. Now, listen!”

The Silver Lailah told her what had to happen. For Alisha to escape to the next level, the lustful Lailah had to be trapped in a paradox loop. It was a disturbance in the train of thought that established when the level continuously contradicted itself. A desire that was negated by an equal and opposite desire, it posed the risk of destroying the seraph’s mind if she could not escape it herself. The paradox loop would force the seraph to have a Paradigm Shift at the cost of hurting the persona of the level.

Alisha hated the idea of subjecting Lailah to something like that. She remembered how she was forced to learn the Song Magic that was designed to steal the souls of others at the expense of hers. She was sure that she had suffered horribly, and she couldn’t bear hurting her so deeply like that.

“Hate it or not, it’s the only way to move on,” the Silver Lailah told her.

“How can you be okay with this?!”

“It’s a risk that we have to take. Besides, if you survive this level, your bond with her will deepen and you’ll be able to use the Armatus whenever you want.”

“What? What do you mean by that?” She thought back to her first time going through the level; when she had completed it, she hadn’t been able to use the Armatus at will. Was the first iteration of the soul space a cover-up?

The Silver Lailah sensed something. A surge in power grabbed her attention; a dragon was after them. The beast swooped in from the volcano’s peak, and the Silver Lailah only barely managed to deflect its flames as it came hurdling down the side. There was no time to waste. They had to go to the monster’s den that was the castle and trap that Lailah in a paradox loop. If only it were that simple. The dragon whacked the fire seraph away with its tail before scooping Alisha up into its clawing hands. It took her back to the castle, where she was placed in a cage for Lailah to bask in her beauty. Her clothes were different now. Her white shirt was now a white blouse held up by a brown corset. A parted pink and red skirt flowered around her, and on her head was a brown bandana with a Normin skull and cross bones. Her arms were decorated with lacy cuffs while her legs had tawny brown boots.

“Are you happy now? I changed into something that would suit your fancy more,” Lailah asked. “It’s called Dancing Pirate, and the best part is that you don’t even have to take off my clothes to get where you want to go. It’s so convenient!” Her voice was dripping with lust.

“Lailah, let me go, please,” Alisha begged her. She gripped the bars of the cage.

“Still? Ugh, I even tried to put on something you would like better! Why won’t you love me? Why won’t you give me what my body craves?! Am I that repulsive?!”

“It’s because this isn’t the right thing to do!”

Lailah tore the bandana from her head in frustration. “If you won’t love me, then I’ll just have to kill you! Good thing you’re in a cage; there’s nowhere for you to go!” Wrathful flames grew in her hands.

“If you kill her, what will you do?” the Silver Lailah asked her. She stood behind her, her hands and dress dyed red with blood. The Pirate Lailah spun around in horror. “Oops, my hand slipped. Guess your dragon wasn’t as strong as you thought, and it’s not a very good guard dog.”

The pirate Lailah screeched. “You killed my dragon! You’re going to pay!”

“If you kill either one of us, what will you do? Can you really live with murdering innocent lives?”

“I…I’ve killed plenty of people! Well, I didn’t—I had my dragon do it—I mean, they were all accidents!”

“Your scapegoat is gone now, so wouldn’t it be your fault?”

The Pirate Lailah turned to her hostage. “Even if it was, I could never kill Alisha. But if she won’t love me, then I have to kill her. I love her so much. So much that I could just burn her to ashes! But if I burn her, I won’t have anyone to love!” She hyperventilated and moaned incessantly while gripping her head.

The paradox loop had begun.

“I…I need her love, but if I can’t have complete control of her, then I must kill her!”

The Silver Lailah opened the cage with a snap of her finger and pulled Alisha out. She said something, but as the ravings of a mad woman echoed through the castle and the entire world began to rumble as its foundation weakened, she could barely hear her.

“The Paradigm Shift will open any minute,” she said. “We need to hurry!”

Alisha went for Pirate Lailah’s wrist, but the fire seraph recoiled from her. She was mad with the agony of not being able to love the one she wanted to kill and kill the one she loved.

“No, don’t touch me! I can’t…I can’t take it…what do I do? I want you gone, but I don’t want you dead!” she screamed, tearing out her hair.

The Silver Lailah pushed Alisha aside and slapped her counterpart. She ordered the princess to just head to the Paradigm Shift. She would be there soon after she had convinced the Lailah who was breaking down in her paradox to go. Alisha obeyed, but she felt something was off. The Silver Lailah was so forceful but kind, yet she was willing to risk too much. Regardless, this level was needed for the Armatus. It felt like she was forgetting to do something, or did she feel that way because of the chaos that toiled inside of Lailah’s heart?

Alisha’s savior brought the persona of the level to the Paradigm Shift where the princess had waited for her. The Pirate Lailah had gone silent, her eyes dull like a dead fish. She was an empty shell. Alisha would have to carry her through the light but not before she did what she believed would allow the Armatus to manifest without having to Dive. She took the persona from her savior, holding her close like they would when they wanted intimacy. She quietly apologized to her for breaking her heart then kissed her cheek. She wasn’t hoping that her signs of affection would bring the Pirate Lailah back, but she felt something like a switch in the pit of her stomach. As the world of lava and volcanoes crumbled, the Silver Lailah disappeared back to her level, and Alisha took the persona who only wanted her love into the light of the Paradigm Shift. Everything melted away.

\----------------------------------------

Alisha woke up de-Armatized from Lailah while the others watched them with worry and confusion. Sorey, Mikleo, and Rose looked particularly concerned. The princess followed their eyes to find Lailah some paces away. She was standing there shaking with terror. Alisha reached out to her after cautiously approaching her.

“I-I’m sorry…!” Lailah whimpered. “I’m so sorry!”

Edna and Zaveid, the only two seraphim in the group closest to Lailah’s age, couldn’t explain her behavior other than that something had happened during the Dive that made a marked change in the real world. And with everyone standing next to them, there was no way that Alisha could address the issue. Slenge closed his eyes, bowed his head, and muttered something that didn’t sound good.

Mikleo glanced at Sorey. This was a requirement for the trials, which had to be completed to get the spiritual powers. He was angry with himself that they hadn’t realized this before. He shifted his attention to Slenge, who had known that it was a trial, and he wouldn’t be surprised if he purposely sealed off the back entrance of the cave to prevent the villagers’ curiosity from getting the better of them. By controlling only one accessible entrance, he protected his people. By vowing to help Sorey and his friends, he could secretly give them the tools they needed to fight Heldalf and quell the malevolence throughout the world. Even so, if they had found the trial of fire, there would be a trial of water. Whatever had happened to Lailah could very well happen to him, and his relationship with Sorey would be damaged.

“Lailah, please, everything is okay,” Alisha gently said.

“No! This was a mistake!” Lailah cried. She fell to her knees with her hands pressing into her tear-stained face. Her body was searing as if she were trying to repel Alisha from ever touching her again.

Slenge cleared his throat to grab Alisha’s, her Shepherd’s, and her fellow Squire’s attention. He explained to her that whatever was the subject of the Dive was most likely Lailah’s true and unadulterated desires. He admitted that he only knew this from the countless unethical experiments that he oversaw during his time as the Pope. The Armatus could only be used freely once those desires had been faced—something Alisha realized when she passed through the Paradigm Shift. If the seraph’s partner could accept those desires without the fear of being crushed by them before reaching the altar, the Armatus would activate. If they weren’t accepted, the partnership would be a dangerous liability from that point on because the true potential of the seraph would be unattainable, only serving as a crutch.

“But what if you accept it later on?” Alisha asked desperately.

“It wouldn’t work,” Slenge bluntly said. “The seraph’s heart shuts itself away, and to reopen it, the partner will have to start from the bottom again. It’s incredibly stressful for anyone involved, and accumulated stress in turn makes the soul spaces more and more dangerous while breeding malevolence.”

Alisha turned back to Lailah. “Lailah, there’s nothing to apologize for,” she tried to convince her. “You already know that I love you, and I’m not scared of your feelings.”

Lailah didn’t say anything. She just waited for Slenge to open the door into the trial. When he did after giving a warning not to force Lailah to trust Alisha, Sorey approached the princess.

“If you need to talk to her alone, we’ll give you space,” he whispered. “Our success during this trial rides on your relationship with Lailah, and I’ll make sure that everything is alright for you two.”

“Thank you, Sorey,” Alisha woefully said.

He rested a hand on her shoulder before rallying his friends to take on Igraine, the Shrine of the Fire Trial. He led them into the trial, but Mikleo and now Dezel were apprehensive about what this meant for when they found their trials.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really do love the confession levels in Ar Tonelico, because that's when everything starts getting fucked up...except for Ar Tonelico 3 where it was pretty tame compared to Ar Tonelico 2. Regardless, they were fun because Lyner, Croix, and Aoto were all just so confused. I think Cloche's in my favorite of all of them.


	50. Phase 2:  Flaming Bonds are Being Tested

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Having completed Lailah's 6th level and confronting her deepest desires, Alisha and company undergo the Trial of Fire. To obtain the Spiritual Power of Fire and the ability to use the Armatus at will, Alisha and Lailah must be able to connect, but will they do it in time?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **PARTS OF THIS CHAPTER ARE BEING WITHHELD AT THE MOMENT.**
> 
> I have officially moved back home and now am in the process of making my bedroom into a work place for the fic, art, and music as well. I'm also thinking of doing an audio version of this fic in the future, but we'll see. It may just be for my own voice acting practice and whatnot.

Once Sorey had crossed the threshold into Igraine, he was struck with a long-forgotten sensation—the rush he had gotten from adventuring, the excitement of exploring ruins. These days when he was so focused on trying to solve the overreaching problem of the world, he hadn’t had the urge to examine architecture and compare notes with Mikleo. The shrine had revitalized his passion. On the other hand, though, it was extremely hot inside, precisely like the summit of a volcano. Despite the inherent danger that came with roaming through the trial, he wanted to spend as much time as he possibly could to see everything. Therefore, Mikleo was in charge of keeping him hydrated. In fact, it was his job to make sure everyone was well-watered. Edna and Zaveid expressed their indifference to being periodically splashed, but they both figured that it would be easier and more efficient to stay inside of him for the duration of the trial. Sorey had since gotten accustomed to all three of them, and Slenge’s medicine had helped a great deal. He even noticed that his sight had improved slightly. Regardless, Mikleo stayed out to fulfill his task.

Rose was less happy about the excursion into shrine. She likened it to an oven that they had all willingly walked into. While Dezel didn’t really care whether or not if he was hot and uncomfortable, he knew that humans were creatures that couldn’t survive extreme temperatures. Before blowing the first of many gusts of wind at Rose and Sorey and Alisha, he made sure that they didn’t create any searing flares. He was somewhat peeved that Zaveid could have helped too, but the shirtless seraph would more than likely just say that his winds would burn in the heat. Dezel had no choice but to assume that Zaveid just didn’t have a delicate touch. After the first few minutes in the trial, he had to take off his jacket and hat in what would be a vain attempt to cool down. He asked Mikleo to splash him with his water, but as soon as the water seraph did, the water evaporated, creating a steam that was just as hot—if not hotter than—the air around them.

Finally, they arrived at a monolith that was surprisingly written in ancient tongue instead of Hymmnos or Ar Ciela, a relic of the past that was meant for the Shepherds from hundreds or thousands of years ago. Sorey’s eyes sparkled; he could finally use the knowledge that had so long ago been stored away.

“Let’s see here…” Sorey happily murmured as he began decoding the glyphs that he had memorized when he was a boy. “‘Shepherd of Hope and Harbinger of Light, make your way to the altar of the Fire Trial.’ Well, that was underwhelming.”

 _“Not surprising,”_ Edna sighed. _“If they told you what to do right at the beginning, it wouldn’t be much of a trial.”_

“Beggars can’t be choosers, you know,” Rose added.

“I know, but it would be cooler if it was more cryptic,” Sorey complained. “I mean, it’s not like I’m not interested, but you would think that whoever made this…” He discreetly glanced back at Alisha and Lailah. He was purposefully stalling.

The princess and the fire seraph had a newborn rift between them. Who would speak first? More importantly, why was Lailah so afraid of Alisha suddenly? Alisha tried to convince her again that she wasn’t frightened by the sixth level of her soul space. It was quite different from when they had first done it where Alisha and Lailah had given into the throes of passion and had a mutual understanding of each other’s feelings for each other.

“I never thought you could be…so forceful,” Alisha said with a blush in a futile attempt to make her comfortable. “It was…very…”

“I threatened to kill you because I thought you didn’t love me,” Lailah said. It was the only thing she said before Dezel ordered Sorey to drop the conversation about the monolith.

They headed to one of the chambers where they were presented with a pedestal next to a locked door. A “1” was written at its foot. In the center of the pedestal was a small tinderbox that had faded scorch marks.

“Oh, Lailah, look! You can use your Silver Flame!” Alisha said, trying to sound happy and excited that she could show off her ability. The fire seraph almost refused to get near her. It was like she was afraid that the desires—the lust she had had for Alisha—would attack her if she got too close to her. “You can do it!” Alisha’s smile was radiant.

Lailah quickly flicked her flame onto the tinderbox, and the door immediately rose to reveal a path that lead to another room with more of the same pedestal. Sorey urged Alisha to take the lead so he could talk with Rose. Mikleo and Dezel were told to go back inside, and while it did little to help with their privacy, they felt safer talking about Lailah and Alisha with them not out in plain sight.

Alisha and Lailah kept moving and forgot about their friends behind them. The former was constantly trying to get her fire seraph to talk to her, but it ended up in failure every time. While they lit the second pedestals, the first one lost its flame. The door came swinging down. Sorey and Rose were separated from Alisha and Lailah.

“There’s a time limit?!” Rose groaned.

 _“Look alive, hellions are trying to sabotage the trial!”_ Dezel cautioned. He and Mikleo were the first to emerge followed by Edna and Zaveid. “Damn hellions.”

“Ha, we haven’t gotten an action in a while! This is gonna be fun,” Zaveid said smugly.

Orb Weavers and Wolf Heddins appeared around them. Then other fire-type animal hellions joined the fray. No, it seemed too orchestrated for it to be coincidence. Mikleo cast Twin Flow and Splash as often as he could while Edna shot them with her Rock Lances. Dezel and Zaveid were at a great disadvantage. The heat nulled their attacks, and while they did have their pendulums, they weren’t very strong. Sorey and Rose tag-teamed, pulverizing the strong rolling hellions before they could disrupt the seraphim’s Artes.

One of the wolf hellions slipped past their defenses and headed straight for Edna. It chomped down on her arm with its crushing jaws. The little earth seraph couldn’t break free on her own. She shot the wolf with balls of hail, but it wasn’t fazed by it.

“Let go of her!” Zaveid roared. He tied the hellion with his pendulum and flung it across the room. He dashed to Edna’s side. “When this is done, we’ll get Mikboy to heal you up. Damn, Eizen would kill me if he saw this.”

“My brother would kill you regardless. Just stay focused and worry about yourself,” Edna huffed. Her arm wasn’t only bleeding. The bite had burned her as well.

“I hope Alisha and Lailah can handle going it alone for a little while,” Sorey panted, the heat wearing him out faster than the hellions. “There’s just no end to them.”

Meanwhile, Alisha and Lailah were trying to break through the door to no avail. Lailah whimpered again. It was unnatural for her to be so worried about her own abilities because she blamed the fire going out on her own incompetence. Alisha grabbed her by the shoulders.

“Lailah, you’ve done absolutely nothing wrong!” she told her. The fire seraph was frozen. Alisha did the only thing she thought would snap her out of the illusion of doubt. She kissed her, holding her by her waist so she couldn’t run away from her feelings. “Why are you so scared? Are you afraid that I won’t love you anymore? It’s true, what I saw in your soul space was scary and intense and so different from when we first completed that level, but my feelings for you haven’t changed.”

Lailah sobbed a little, “But, Alisha, deep in my heart, those feelings were willing to kill you if you didn’t stay with me. I…I don’t want to scare you away, and I don’t want to threaten you into staying with me.”

“But you’re not!” Alisha kissed her again this time on the forehead. “I’ve loved you since I was a little girl. I protected you from everyone in Ladylake, and over time, I came to love you even more. Your beauty, your grace, your fire, and even the rage that burns in you when Bartlow stomps on me as the princess borne of a common woman. I can never be scared of you. And frankly,” Alisha paused to compose herself, “It was…kind of exciting seeing you like that. N-Not crying and panicking, but trying to dress up for me and, well...you know…showing off.”

“Alisha…” Lailah sniffled. “The feelings you saw have only gotten stronger. To see them like this—it’s embarrassing, and I don’t want you to get hurt by them.”

“That’s what love is.” The princess hugged her fire seraph tightly. “I’ve always been prepared to take on the burden of loving a seraph, and supporting you and Sorey will allow me to be with you one day.”

Lailah was moved to tears as she returned Alisha’s hug and kisses. She still was nervous, but there was no time for it. They had to find a way to open the door.

The hellions swarmed around Sorey and Rose. All three of their seraphim had sustained too much damage to fight alongside them, and while they were recovering inside of their humans, the Shepherd and the red-haired Squire felt exhaustion setting on their bones like rot.

Suddenly, they heard Alisha and Lailah. The pedestal was relit, the door rose again, and there they were. Alisha dashed out first with her Mystic Arte Light Blast. Next was Lailah, who looked like she was glowing. She activated her Mystic Arte:

“Concerto Infernus!”

Even though the hellions could withstand fire, they disintegrated into silver flames after being hit with waves and waves of purifying fire from Lailah’s papers. Sorey and Rose panted, but there were smiles on their lips. The rift beween the two girls was gone, and they seemed stronger than before.

The other seraphim appeared outside. Dezel and Zaveid held Rose and Sorey up while Mikleo quickly healed Edna. After that, the earth seraph let him tend to the others. She wanted to know if they were alright now.

“Yes, thank you for your concern, Edna,” Lailah told her happily.

“Guess we all know what to expect from now on,” Edna said. She spun her umbrella on her shoulder. “Meebo, hurry it up. We’ve got to clear this trial before I turn to leather.”

Mikleo flashed a glare at her before turning back to his current patients. Sorey thanked him with a quick peck. Dezel allowed Rose to thank him before picking her up to carry. Despite the water seraph healing her and rehydrating her, she was still winded from the heat. He took her jacket, but there wasn’t much else he could do. Considering that he kept a small bubble of circulating air around him, holding her close would cool her down…theoretically.

“I can walk on my own, Dezel,” Rose complained.

“You’re overheating, and if you overheat while I’m inside of you, then I overheat,” he grumbled. “Just shut up and take advantage of a little breeze.”

“I can never tell if Dezel likes her or hates her,” Sorey whispered to Mikleo.

“Well, it’s an improvement after that episode in the inn,” Zaveid added as an aside.

Alisha and Lailah led their friends—the seraphim save for Dezel inside of their hosts—to a room where a stone dragon overlooked the crater of lava below them. That was when they noticed a circular platform of stone at the bottom and other platforms that led to it. It didn’t take much to figure out that they had to increase the amount of lava to make a path to the center platform. After activating the dragon head via a switch and watching the lava spew from its intimidating maw, they headed on their way to the other side where the other dragon head was. They opened the path to the second room on the opposite side, and once again, a horde of hellions came after them. Lailah used her Mystic Arte again to make quick work of them then hurried on to the dragon head. The lava rose again. The path was now open.

 _“It’s amazing how quickly Alisha and Lailah were able to rebound from that rift,”_ Mikleo said.

 _“Haven’t they been in a relationship for a while now? Oh, I get it, Mikboy, you sly dog,”_ Zaveid teased. _“You’re looking for a preview of what’s to come when it’s your turn to bear your heart and give Sorey your everything.”_

_“What?!”_

_“Can it, streaker,”_ Edna ordered. _“You’ll have to show him your most embarrassing feelings, too. Just like me and Blind Grumpy Cat over there.”_

 _“I don’t know if Edna should be involved in such things,”_ Mikleo joked.

_“I can be sexy, too. I just choose not to be. After all, I’m aware that I look like a child, but I’m much older than you, Meebo. I’m not just a little girl. I’m a woman.”_

“Guys, could you not talk about that kind of stuff, especially in my head?” Sorey whispered. All three of them went silent. They forgot that their Shepherd could hear them. Their discussion was making him anxious.

They all came to the platforms that would take them to the center one. They weren’t very close together, but a little jumping would take care of it. Dezel returned inside Rose while Lailah went back into Alisha. Sorey was the first to jump to the next platform, then Alisha, then Rose. When they reached the center platform and walked to the middle, the emblem of fire shined beneath them. The platform was an elevator-like device that was controlled by Seraphic Artes as opposed to Song Magic. It slowly took them deeper and deeper into the mountain, farther and farther from the heat of the shrine down to the altar.

When they arrived at the bottom of the shaft, everything was cooler. Sorey spotted a monolith from the platform. He wasted no time. He recognized the glyphs from the ancient language:

“Touch the monoliths in the cardinal directions to reveal the spiritual power of fire.”

But there was more in Hymmnos, which Lailah came out to read:

“Seraph of fire, once the spiritual power of fire has been bequeathed to you, open your heart and Sing your feelings to your vessel.”

The other seraphim came out. They were ready to take on the trial, but something told Sorey that they should sit it out. It was the trial of fire, and Alisha was tethered to Lailah. As Shepherd, he was obligated to lend a hand, but for the purpose of the trial, Alisha was in charge. Either way, though, the aforementioned monoliths were around the altar. He took a step towards the center. Suddenly, a malevolence-ridden domain blanketed the altar, and everyone’s chest felt like there were weights on them.

“There’s malevolence…down here…too?” Alisha choked.

A dragon standing on its hind legs and wielding battle equipment appeared. It roared at them. It was a guardian within the trial.

“Well, just great,” Zaveid panted. “You sure you can handle this, Sheps?”

Sorey drew his sword. He forced his body to move under the domain. “Alisha, I’ll distract the dragon. You go ahead and complete the trial.”

Alisha nodded. Lailah and Sorey stood between her and the dragon. The dragon went after Sorey with its monstrous sword. It prepared to hit him again and again, and while Lailah tried to deter it with balls of fire, it wasn’t even bothered. Sorey parried its attacks only to be caught off-guard by a sweep of its tail. Alisha touched the first monolith.

Mikleo couldn’t stand sitting on the sidelines; however, he knew that it was for the trial. He worried that the dragon would kill Sorey. Alisha touched the second monolith. Sorey tried to get a hit in only to find that his attacks did nothing. Alisha touched the third monolith. She just needed one more. Lailah and Sorey both ran to Alisha to protect her from behind as the dragon lifted its sword. Alisha touched the final monolith, causing the domain to vanish and making the dragon vulnerable to their attacks.

Sorey unleashed his Mystic Arte Bolt Tempest. Alisha snuck in from under him and stabbed the dragon’s legs a few times. Something was strange; the dragon was suddenly incredibly weak. Lailah prepared to use her Mystic Arte. She released it when Alisha and Sorey were out of the way, and even though the dragon took substantial damage from the attack, it was neither exhausted nor purified.

“W-What’s going on?” Sorey breathed. “It’s…It’s weak, but we can’t beat it?”

Lailah fell to her knees. Alisha held her shoulder.

“You nearly got me there,” the dragon said. It transformed into an entirely different being. It was a man with a lizard head appeared from the purifying flames that dissolved the form of the dragon. “My name is Ekseo, and I am the guardian seraph of the Lord of Fire, Musiphe. Musiphe is the source of fire-based Seraphic Artes, and his shrine serves as a proxy Tower to the Second Tower of Frelia.”

Sorey’s eyes shined. While he knew about the Five Great Lords, he had gotten so caught up with everything that he wasn’t expecting to meet Musiphe’s guardian. But for a proxy, he was surprised to see that there was little Hymmnos within the shrine. He wondered why they used the ancient tongue unless it was strictly to protect the proxy from abusers and invaders.

“Anway, I expected no less from the Lady of the Lake, Lailah. But how peculiar that she isn’t bonded to the Shepherd. My lady, if you would be so kind, why are you bonded to a Squire?”

Rose and the other seraphim approached the little counsel. Was she going to be asked the same thing when she had to work with Dezel?

“Lailah has been with me for as long as I was a child; my name is Alisha Diphda, Princess of Hyland,” Alish explained when Lailah could not. “It’s custom that the Lady of the Lake, a Prime Lord, should bond to the Shepherd, but we had already established ourselves. The Shepherd Sorey also can’t hold more than three seraphim.”

“Ah, yes, the symphonic power of seraphim takes a toll. Well, it’s strange to have to do this with a Squire—my apologies, Lord Shepherd—but you’ve proven that your bond with your seraph is admirable. I’ve never seen anyone so fervently confess love to their partner.” Alisha and Lailah blushed. “Did you think it was a coincidence that you were separated from your friends while they found off hellions?”

Rose crossed her arms with a pout. “You could have sent some sort of warning! We nearly died!” she complained.

“But if you had died, it would only prove that you _shouldn’t_ be here. But I digress. A question for the Shepherd—do you understand why you are here?” Ekseo looked at Sorey.

Sorey nodded. They were there to receive the spiritual power of fire, which was one of the powers needed to stop Heldalf. Without it, they were too weak to fight him. But that wasn’t all. Ekseo knew about the situation in Pendrago after Slenge had arrived in Gododdin. He had heard about Cardinal Forton, and he had learned that she was ruining her people with a blind greedy self-righteousness. To cut through her domain, the Shepherd needed at least one of the spiritual powers in his arsenal.

“Well, that’s enough talk. Fire Seraph Lailah and Squire Alisha, we shall begin the ritual to pass on the spiritual power of fire.”

Ekseo asked the two girls to step to the center of the altar while everyone else had to go to the rim. He placed them back-to-back, their fingers intertwined, and asked them to feel each other in their hearts. He stood before Lailah with a brilliantly shining red orb engraved with the emblem of fire.

“This is the Hymn Crystal Armatus,” Ekseo said. “This one is specifically for fire seraphim, and once you accept it into you, the spiritual power of fire will be yours in the shape of Armatus you already have. It will hurt a little, but once you receive it, you should feel a surge of new power.”

Lailah gripped Alisha’s hand. Ekseo prepared the orb, initializing it in Hymmnos:

“ _Was yea ra chs hymmnos yor, en chsee fwal fwal yor, exec drone hymmnos_Armatus, enter_FETHMUS_MIOMA._ ”

Lailah tensed as new and unfamiliar emotions flowed into her. The power they held warmed her body, and before she knew it, she had received the spiritual power of fire. Now she had to activate it by singing the Song that had come into her heart. Alisha supported her as she opened her mouth:

**[LYRICS REDACTED]**

**[LYRICS REDACTED]**

It had been so long since Alisha had heard Lailah’s sweet voice. She had always known Lailah to sing ballads, so the quick pace and almost spicy beat was refreshing. It made her so happy that she could listen to her sing so comfortably. She wished to hear this voice every day, but such an extravagant song surely had to use a lot energy.

**[LYRICS REDACTED]**

**[LYRICS REDACTED]**

**[LYRICS REDACTED]**

Rose and Sorey were amazed as well. They didn’t know Lailah could sing so seriously and passionately that it resonated with their hearts as well. Sorey specifically could feel something different within him. It was warm and strong like the fires she commanded.

**[LYRICS REDACTED]**

He could almost make out the words. No, he had to learn them. If this is what it meant to receive the spiritual powers—if he was to support Mikleo one day as he sang, he wanted to know exactly what he was singing. He had to learn Lailah’s Song.

**[LYRICS REDACTED]**

**[LYRICS REDACTED]**

**[LYRICS REDACTED]**

**[LYRICS REDACTED]**

Edna and Zaveid couldn’t be prouder of Lailah, and they knew that they would have to sing with Sorey at their backs. It was intimate in a way, but they wondered if Sorey’s relationship with Mikleo would weaken their Songs. Or would theirs weaken Mikleo’s Song? Mikleo didn’t know how to feel as he watched Lailah express the feelings contained within the Song. He wanted to do it, too, yet what would Edna and Zaveid think?  
Dezel also felt conflicted. If he had to sing with Rose at his back, he would have to reveal his true feelings to everyone. How could he when he didn’t know how to express them to Rose herself?

**[LYRICS REDACTED]**

As the Song came to an end, Alisha felt Lailah fall back on her. The fire seraph was happy with her performance, but she felt so drained. Ekseo gave her a small applause before handing the orb to Sorey. The Song was still present within the Hymn Crystal, but it was essentially useless to them now. It was something of a keepsake, a reminder that Alisha and Lailah’s bond was real.

“That was amazing, Lailah!” Alisha gushed. Lailah smiled before passing out into her arms. “L-Lailah!”

“She’s alright,” Ekseo reassured. “That Song was much more than what I was expecting. Please, I suggest you let her rest before you head out to wherever that power is needed.”

Ekseo gave his farewell before disappearing into and sphere of light. Sorey and Rose regrouped with the princess, and after a few more compliments about Lailah’s singing, they began their way back to Gododdin. Sorey had to talk with Slenge. That was when Zaveid pushed everyone out of the way.

“Shepherd!” he yelled. “I want you to Dive into me!”

“H-Huh? Oh, yeah, we haven’t Dived together yet,” Sorey thoughtfully said.

“Nope, which is why I think now would be a great time for you do it! So, what do you say? Before you have to be all Shepherdly again and stuff?”

When Sorey agreed to Dive into the shirtless wind seraph, Mikleo’s stomach turned in circles at the thought of Zaveid’s scandalous soul space. But he had to let them do it. Sorey would get stronger, and he had faith that Sorey’s feelings wouldn’t change.

Outside, Slenge had returned to his village. Alisha was suddenly stricken with fatigue and fever. Zaveid caught her and carried her back to the inn while Sorey went to see the village chief. Now that they had the spiritual power of fire, Slenge believed that they could stop Forton’s blighting rain, but he remained firm that he wasn’t going to return to Pendrago. The Shepherd thanked him one more time for his help before returning to the inn to uphold his promise to Zaveid. What world was waiting for him in the wind seraph’s heart? He didn’t know, but he was sure that it would be okay. It was the first level only, and Zaveid’s carefree attitude wasn’t anything to frighten him yet.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's been a while since we've had a full-blown Song, and this one might be produced before any of them as a cover of sorts to the Zestiria fire trial theme (hence the title). We'll see, but I'm definitely excited to go revise the lyrics again now that I have a little more time.


	51. Phase 2:  A World of Dreams

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cosmosphere Level 1: Zaveid  
>  _ENTER root.mea_  
>  _SET G.W.C. 3600Hmag/s_  
>  _0x01_  
>  _SET StartF 19021Hz_  
>  _0x01_  
>  _COM:_  
>  _Ma num ra flip 0x0011000011_  
>  _yor enter COSMOSPHERE.mea/._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We are starting Zaveid's Dives! I think of all the Dives, his are the least like the canon Ar Tonelico ones. There are going to be Berseria things, so....yeah. Also, I haven't been getting any comments for the past few chapters, and I would really really like to get some feedback on how the story is going! So, please leave comments!

Before Sorey and Zaveid could Dive together, Edna reminded them that they would need a Lord of the Land to introduce the Shepherd into the mind of the IPD seraph. It was the same reason that Rose and Dezel had a hard time Diving together at first. As long as Sorey was able to stay within the soul space without any problems, then he would be able to come back on his own. Though, the fact that Zaveid was also willing to have him walk around inside of him through events put all this in the Shepherd’s favor. The only one that could do the job was Forsea, but after they had brought her back to Gododdin, she had been busying going about her daily life as if she had never become a hellion. She spent her time near Slenge’s house or near the school. She enjoyed watching the children, and every once in a while, they took notice of her and offered her some sort of trinket or offering before Slenge or another adult told them to leave her alone. The people were still somewhat fearful that they would unintentionally disturb the peace between the seraphim and humans, so it made them feel better if they lived independently of each other. It felt strange speaking to her again after having finished their business for now when Sorey and Zaveid approached her.

“You want to Dive into an IPD?” Forsea asked. “I can help you, yes.” 

Sorey politely thanked her even though she wanted to help them as a token of gratitude. Zaveid, in contrast, threw his muscular arms around Forsea’s neck, sobbing out an endless stream of thank-yous and prayers. Forsea was less than impressed, if not slightly disgusted by his blubbering.

The seraph was leading them back to the inn for privacy when Sorey looked back at Zaveid. For only a split second, he saw what appeared to be doubt or even a lack of confidence. He fell back a little to talk to him.

“I’ve never seen you look sad,” he said quietly.

“I-I’m not sad,” Zaveid nervously told him. “I-It hurts when a girl turns me down! Nothing to be worried about!”

“If you say so…”

Sorey and Zaveid took the room next to the one where Alisha was resting after asking Rose for the Sacred Knife. Forsea had the two men stand next to each other, the Sacred Knife laying in her hands. Then she told them to touch the Knife, initiating a Proxy Dive. Once they were within her soul space, Zaveid and Sorey Armatized.

\-----------------------------------

Sorey had anticipated the day that he would Armatize with Zaveid, and his introduction to his soul space was the most bewildering. Even though the wind seraph was half-naked all the time, seeing him completely naked was almost intimidating. Zaveid was a bulky man compared to Sorey’s stature that averaged between Mikleo and Dezel.

_“Don’t stare at me like that,”_ Zaveid teased.

_“It’s just…I’m impressed,”_ Sorey sheepishly replied. He couldn’t help but be embarrassed.

_“You’re digging yourself a deeper hole, Sheps. Anyway, let’s get this under way.”_

Sorey couldn’t believe that Zaveid was ready to let him begin uncovering his true feelings and desires. Then again, Edna wasn’t particularly afraid to do it either. With that, they commenced the Dive; Sorey touched his chest.

\-----------------------------------

Zaveid’s world was contradictory to his personality. It was filled with sweets and fields of flowers. It was a child’s world. Sorey was beside himself. How could this be Zaveid’s soul space? The other thing that he noticed was that there was no Mind Guardian. It was only the two of them in that fairytale-like world.

“Why doesn’t he have a Mind Guardian?” Sorey asked himself. Of course, he wasn’t expecting an answer at any point.

He walked toward a small village that, like everything else, was far too cute for someone like Zaveid. It was nice though. And the silence that came with the soul space was refreshing somehow. He felt like he didn’t have to care or stress about anything that was happening in reality. He had to tell himself to remember that it was only Zaveid’s first level. There was a good chance that it was all a farce. Especially after he had seen him in that split second where he looked upset and lonely.

“Sorey!” Zaveid happily called to him.

“Zaveid, what is this place?” the Shepherd asked him. “It looks so peaceful and normal.”

“That stung a bit. Well, you could say this is my special happy place. When being a seraph gets to be too much, I like to just nap and dream here.”

Sorey furrowed his brow. Zaveid was so friendly that he wasn’t sure if it was the real him. But he had only known him for a short time that he couldn’t allow himself to jump to conclusions.

“So what do you want to do?” the wind seraph asked. “I’ve never had anyone Dive into me before. I don’t know what you do with Mikboy or Edna.”

He was again suspicious that he was so cognizant of the outside world while inside the soul space. The first level was very close to reality, so again, it wasn’t too out of the ordinary.

“How about we just take a walk?” Sorey suggested. “Of the entire group, I know you the least.”

“Team building! I like it!”

Zaveid pushed him along to the flower fields outside of the village like a child spending the day with his parent. He seemed so pure and happy that Sorey actually pitied him. It was so quiet that he didn’t discount that he was lonely. When Zaveid found the perfect spot in the field of tulips and marigolds, he sat down and asked his human to sit next to him.

“Zaveid, I’ve been wondering something,” Sorey mentioned while lowering himself to the ground. “Where’s your Mind Guardian? Aren’t all seraphim supposed to have one?”

Zaveid lay back with his arms crossed under his head. “You really don’t know? IPD seraphim don’t have Mind Guardians. It’s a lot of complicated mumbo-jumbo that I don’t understand. The bigwigs in Rolance’s castle? They would know more.” He sat back up. “How do you like this world?”

It was an attempt to change the topic, but Sorey could tell that Zaveid didn’t want to talk about it. “I think it’s nice,” Sorey politely said. “But don’t you get bored?”

“Sometimes.” He smiled at him. “But now I actually have someone that wants to Dive into me!” His smile lost some of the brilliant happiness. It was a window, a sneak peek of what was to come. “Sorey, you know that this is only the first level, right? I can’t tell you everything. But if you really want to know, you’ll have to go deeper.” Zaveid stood up and walked some paces ahead of Sorey. “I’m sorry in advance.”

Zaveid’s smile had a hint of sadness now. He couldn’t tell him anything, and Zaveid’s heart was still closed to him no matter how much he seemed open to the idea of Sorey learning more about him. For once in the short time they knew each other, he wasn’t putting on a show of inflated ego or theatrics. He was just like Mikleo and Dezel and Edna. He wanted someone to lean on, and naturally finding that in Sorey gave him peace of mind. But even though he knew that he was committed to Mikleo, Sorey still worried about him.

The light at the Stonehenge erupted from the earth as a Paradigm Shift was initiated, which confused the kind Shepherd because he hadn’t really seen change in him unless it was the trust that Zaveid was placing in him.

“Guess it’s time to go,” Zaveid sighed. “Well, I’m not surprised. This place has nothing to do in it.”

Zaveid led his Shepherd back to the Stonehenge where he gazed at the shining light. He had never seen a Paradigm Shift, and the sense of fulfillment that came from it and the beauty of personal growth almost brought tears to his eyes.

“Zaveid, before you go,” Sorey began. “Even though the others haven’t warmed up to you yet, I’m here to help you grow, alright? We’re in this together.”

Zaveid smirked. “You’re really too pure for your own good,” he mumbled. He gave him a thumbs-up before stepping into the light.

\-----------------------------------

Sorey opened his eyes to find that Zaveid was asleep next to him. Again, he looked different. Forsea had left them during the Dive beforehand, which allowed Sorey to talk with the wind seraph when he woke up.

“That was some nap,” Zaveid yawned. “So how was it?”

“It was really simple for someone like you,” Sorey admitted. He wasn’t sure what else to say. Nothing had really happened aside from them just talking, and he had to wonder—is that what Zaveid wanted? The only way to find out was to Dive more into him; he couldn’t ask Edna, and Zaveid wouldn’t just tell him. It wasn’t his style.

Zaveid got up. They had to get going back to Pendrago. As much as he enjoyed the Dive, if they wasted anymore time discussing it, the Capital City would fall into ruin. Plu, he wanted Dezel to get rid of some of his hatred as well. He thought it would help his relationship with Rose since he presumably wanted to see her dead.

When Sorey and Zaveid left the inn, they found Alisha and Lailah were back on their feet. Their jade eyes were burning with excitement, the new spiritual power of fire coursing through them.

“Look, Zaveid is positively glowing,” Edna teased with a smirk.

“It was _amazing_ ,” Zaveid went along. “Who knew that the Shepherd was such an animal?” Mikleo shot Sorey a glare, forcing the wind seraph to assure him he was only joking. 

Rose watched Dezel, who seemed tense with anticipation. Forton wanted him for something. Was it a good idea to just waltz back into the shrinechurch despite having a new power? Wouldn’t they be hand-delivering him to her regardless of how prepared they were? What did she want him for, and why had she insinuated that she knew the reason? The seraphim all returned to their respective owners, but Dezel threatened Rose in the safety of her mind:

_“If you even think about getting in my way, I will not hesitate to kill you, and I swear by it.”_

Sorey and Alisha walked ahead of her, blissfully unaware of what was happening between the assassin and her seraph. Rose clenched her fists in frustration. Even after all this time, even after Zaveid forced Dezel to apologize, even after he had held her so close; Dezel still considered her a burden. She didn’t care that he had threatened her. If Forton was going to kill him or abuse him, then she vowed to stop her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My, wasn't Zaveid's first level charming? Naturally, the first level is always a cakewalk. Hope you're looking forward to what's to come. And again, please leave a comment and let me know your thoughts!


	52. Phase 2:  The Cardinal's Prayers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With the spiritual power of fire dwelling within Lailah, Sorey and company return to Pendrago to finally take care of Cardinal Forton. But in defeating her, the seeds of a new problem--new doubt--begin to sprout.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was going to postpone this chapter because it's been an eventful weekend, but then I thought that in the real world, people aren't going to really care about that. Besides, I'm super excited to get to the trials! This one isn't about the trials, but...you know what I mean. 
> 
> PLEASE comment what you think below! Comments are my main fuel source for uploading chapters--even more important that food!

Lunarre handed Targana the Hymn Crystal which contained the Song that was needed to carry out their plan. The Song was called Vajra, and its purpose was to grant to Lakra administrative power in addition to forcing the Shepherd’s soul to ascend into Infel Phira and turn into a controllable weapon. The only one who could sing it was Frelia as the Second Tower’s Administrator, and if she gave permission to the seraph-in-chains to conduct its activity, there was no stopping her. But they still needed an IPD seraph—specifically, a cursed one, and the only cursed seraph they knew was Dezel.

“Is this plan really going to work?” the fox-faced hellion asked dubiously.

“We’ll make sure it works,” Targana said.

“I will capture that seraph, and then we will get to work,” Forton promised. “Lakra is ready.”

\-------------------------------------

Sorey, Alisha, and Rose stopped in the Knights’ Tower to relay the information from Slenge to Sergei. Once they caught him up to speed, they waited for his plans on what to do next. Targana was there, and strangely, Rose’s heart began to race after just a glance at him. Sorey and Sergei talked and talked about Slenge and Forton and what it meant when the former refused to come back to his duty. Alisha listened and helped with the strategy.

“S-Sergei, do you mind if I use the infirmary?” Rose suddenly choked out. She was clutching at her chest. Sergei nodded then asked his men to accompany her post-haste. Targana was going to volunteer but ultimately stood down. When she was escorted to one of the sick rooms, she thanked the knights and locked the door behind her. “Dezel, you have to come out.”

Dezel did as he was told. “What’s wrong?” he asked her. He helped her to one of the beds where she lay. “This has never happened so spontaneously before.”

“Are you sure it wasn’t you picking up on something?”

“I sensed Forton’s wickedness in that room. It was heavy. I didn’t think it would affect us, but I was clearly wrong.”

Rose turned on her side. “For someone who threatened me not too long ago, you’re awfully concerned.”

“A seraph would be worried even if a rock was its vessel. As much as I don’t care if you do, you need to get better. We’ll be heading back into her domain, and if you choke up again, we’ll be slaughtered.” He sat next to her, healing her with his Artes regardless of how weak they were.

As Rose recovered under Dezel’s semblance of care, Sergei prepared Sorey to carry out the attack. He had to go deep into the catacombs of the shrinechurch and stall Forton long enough so that he and his men could arrest her. Finally, once she was apprehended, they would make her confess her crimes. Then they would set about to freeing the IPDs.

Targana raised his hand. “How do you know that it will be safe to release the IPDs? Aren’t you aware of IPD disease? If those seraphim are infected, we can’t let them go. They’ll level the city if we don’t kill them.”

“What? How can you say that?!” Sorey argued. “Why would you kill them? What if we can help them?”

“There is no cure for IPD disease. Any seraph that has been afflicted must be put out of their misery before they either destroy everything or become a dragon.” Targana was so matter-of-fact that Mikleo wanted to come out and show him what a crazed seraph looked like. “Would you force a dog that was paralyzed to continue living in pain?”

“We won’t be killing them,” Sergei assured Sorey. “We’ve found some documents in the archives of the shrinechurch that Dive Therapy can heal them.” Edna, who had emerged from her vessel, caught Sorey’s attention. “It’s been illegal for some time in Rolance, but I wish to make it a viable option to fixing our wrongs.”

Sorey breathed easier, and Rose finally came back to the briefing room. The plan was set into action. Thus, the Shepherd and his Squires made their way to the shrinechurch under the cover of the night. The domain felt the same as when they first experienced it, but Dezel tried to support Rose through it if only to meet his goal. It was affecting her more than anyone else; it was no doubt targeted at the blind wind seraph. He stepped out of her for a brief moment to ask Sorey to watch out for her.

“I will be the one to take care of Forton, and I don’t want her to get caught up in it,” Dezel said just above a whisper. “Forton will go after her if I stay inside. I cannot allow that.”

“Dezel, that’s suicide,” Alisha scolded. “Think about how Rose will feel!”

Rose, knowing what they were talking about, just stayed silent after hearing the outburst. She wasn’t going to let Dezel do as he pleased, and she didn’t care about the threat. He returned inside to fortify her against the domain until Lailah finally asked Alisha to use their new power. The two girls Armatized, lifted the Sacred Blade into the air, and Lailah sang a verse of her Song that reverberated like the chiming of a bell. Immediately, the domain was neutralized, and Rose instantly felt better. Dezel wouldn’t be able to stop her now.

They ventured deeper into the shrinechurch until they came to a labyrinth that was teeming with weakened infected IPDs. Both Dezel and Zaveid were horrified because if they spent too long near them, then they would catch it. Staying inside of their humans provided some safety from the disease, but they preferred to stay away completely. That wasn’t the only problem, though. Sorey felt it when one of the IPDs that spotted him—the bloodlust and fear and sadness.

“Don’t leave me alone…!” the IPD seraph wailed while reaching out to him. “Please don’t go!” He started to sing a corrupted song ladened with intense negative feelings. “I love you so much that I want to kill you.”

_“Shepherd, move!”_ Zaveid barked.

As the IPD launched his Song Magic at Sorey, Alisha, and Rose; the Shepherd ducked and rolled towards him. He wasn’t going to kill him—he couldn’t—but he needed him out of the way. With the pommel of his sword, he jabbed him hard in the stomach. The IPD gagged first then flopped over his shoulder. Edna wasted no time in curing him of the infection with a short Dive Therapy session, and when he came to, Sorey held onto him to quell his fright.

“What’s going on here?” he asked the seraph.

“You need to get out of here!” the seraph pleaded. Other IPDs were encroaching on them, drawn to Sorey’s light. There were far too many to defeat and cure, and it was dangerous to send those that were cured outside where they would just be recaptured. Sorey couldn’t bring him along, either. “You’re the Shepherd, right? Please, take me out of here and let’s leave this hell.”

Alisha escorted the seraph out of the catacombs and to the main hall. She didn’t want to separate from her friends longer than necessary, so she left him to at least recover in the sanctity of the stained glass windows. Doing so pained her, but she had a duty to do along with Sorey and Rose.

From that point, Sorey led his friends around the IPDs, rendering them unconscious if they crossed paths. While Zaveid was relatively okay with just knocking them out and leaving them to conserve their energy, Dezel couldn’t stand it. He felt sorry for them. They all cried, wanting to be with others instead of hidden away and left to suffer their affliction in the dark.

_“I hate this,”_ Dezel growled in Rose’s head. _“Why do we have to just leave them? They don’t deserve to be stuck here.”_

“We can’t do anything about it right now,” Rose told him. She knew that he was upset, but it would only cause more pain to cure them then have them become infected again. “I’m sorry.”

“Is everything alright?” Alisha asked.

Rose just nodded. What was going on between her and her wind seraph was private, and while she appreciated that Sorey and Alisha showed concern, she didn’t want them too involved for Dezel’s sake.

Her seraph was quiet again for some time as they continued on through the catacombs. Sorey had been listening for the assassin to speak again because it offered insight into how the blind wind seraph was handling this moment.

_“You wouldn’t leave me, would you?”_ he asked suddenly, whispering quietly as if he were among the others. Rose didn’t answer. If she did, Sorey and Alisha would become more worried. He didn’t ask or speak to her again.

While finding their way through the labyrinth, Sorey had found small tablets that looked far too important to ignore. It was then that he realized that these tablets were needed to get farther into the catacombs. There was one for each element, and they were colored respectively. And they were paramount to accessing the deepest part of the shrinechurch—the chancel branded with the crest of the Great Lord Maotelus.

_“This is Maotelus’s crest,”_ Mikleo noted.

_“Yup, this place is his shrine,”_ Zaveid explained. It was about a thousand years ago that Maotelus was enshrined in Pendrago, and he and Lailah had wondered what had happened to him since the emergence of the Lord of Calamity. _“In case you haven’t noticed, his domain is nonexistent in these parts…and other parts of the continent.”_

_“That would mean he’s disappeared,”_ Lailah added. Her heart sank.

Rose stepped up to the door embellished with the magnificent crest. “That doesn’t matter right now,” she said, her voice sounding rather heavy. “Let’s just take care of this rain business and start curing all the IPDs here.”

“W-Wait a minute,” Sorey said before Edna came out and shoved her umbrella at Rose’s face. “Edna!”

“You’re not the one who has to cure them all,” she argued. “Haven’t you been listening, you ignorant girl? Healing every seraph trapped here is pointless until we can ensure that they’re safe. Have you forgotten that Church Lady is looking for Dezel? If we cure each IPD seraph now, who’s to say that we’re not bolstering her forces by making them resistant to therapy after being recaptured?”

Sorey got between them. “Edna, no one is going to force you to cure all the IPDs, but when we know for a fact that everyone will be safe, we’ll have to do it. And Rose, Dezel is scared about all this, isn’t he? You want to help him, and we want to help you, but we have to be careful.” The Shepherd looked at them in turn. This was only a temporary solution. Above all else, they had to stop Forton.

Without a moment to spare, Sorey opened the door to the chancel where he found a number of stone statues. The seraphim stepped out of their vessels, examining each one.   
“This one is a dreamboat,” Edna said seductively.

“And this girl is fine as can be!” Zaveid slurped. “Too bad they’re only statues.”

“They look so lifelike,” Mikleo observed.

Lailah came to the one that looked exactly like Sergei. “Oh, no!” she cried out. Alisha joined her side. “This is…!”

“It’s Sergei’s twin brother,” Rose finished after walking up behind her. 

She remembered how blasé Targana had been about Sergei’s missing brother, and her heart ached for the captain. Now that it had been confirmed, she began to suspect that Targana knew more than he let on. She would have to have Eguille look into him.

“Did Forton do this?” Sorey asked.

All of them heard a dull chuckle that erupted into a heinous cackle then into a horrible cacophony. The Cardinal Forton stood behind them all, pure malevolence wisping around her like trails of smoke. Her voice was distorted from such wickedness.

“You have brought back the IPD seraph that we need,” Forton said gratefully.

Sorey drew his sword. He refused the idea of handing Dezel over, and he was sure that she would try to take him. It was just like with Lailah after Chancellor Bartlow had arrested her. They wanted to damage him as little as possible so that he could carry out whatever horrid plot they had for him. Rose, too, was prepared to fight her with everything she had if it meant that she could protect Dezel.

“Care to explain why you instated the blighting rains?” Alisha demanded. She held her spear behind her, ready to slash her in half with a flick of her arm.

“There were plenty of reasons,” Forton admitted. “Trapping the people within the city ensured that my power was absolute, and it helped to keep the IPDs in line.” Her body began to morph into that of a serpent. Her skin turned green and scaly. “But most importantly, it proves that my prayers were heard!” Her hair turned into snakes; she had become the hellion known as Medusa. “The Goddess has blessed me with absolute power over the people of Pendrago, and with this very power, Hyland will be no more!”

Alisha’s stomach dropped. It was all part of a plot to destroy Hyland, but why did Forton need Dezel? Then each of the Shepherd and Squires remembered that he had mentioned cursed seraphim were more powerful when afflicted with the disease.

“And this works out,” Medusa hissed. Her eyes flashed, but Dezel blew everyone back so they wouldn’t gaze into them. “Oh, now I remember. You were blinded some time ago, weren’t you.”

“It has its perks,” Dezel retorted. He whipped out his pendulums, ready to take her on full-force. “You want me? Then you’re going to have to fight for me!” He turned back to Sorey and the others. “Don’t get involved. This is my battle!”

Medusa screeched after he made a wall of wind to prevent them, mostly Rose, from interfering. He immediately began singing a Song; he wanted to annihilate her before she could attack him. Song Magic took time, though, and Medusa was much faster than his singing. Still, because he, an IPD, used New Testament of Pastalie to sing, it took half as much time and boosted his power by almost double.

_cOzO hymmnos mea gYOvAwA/._   
_hEkEtAtAeh z.z.x. mAnAgEeh desfel/._   
_dOnEgA yor nYOmElYI mahin mea pitod prooth yor/._

Spears of darkness formed above him and shot at Medusa, who coiled around each one to dodge them at breakneck speed. As she raced towards him, he cast one of Seraphic Artes Radiant Heat at her. She swerved out of the way before wrapping around him. She squeezed him as tight as she could without killing him.

“You’re all talk and no bite!” Medusa cackled.

Dezel tried to sing again with great difficulty. His body was being crushed, and he worried more about his bones breaking and perforating through his chest than anything else.  
Lailah couldn’t stand back anymore. It would hurt Dezel, but she had to burn his wall of wind. The blind seraph yelped as the pain zapped him through the air pressure around him.

“Like hell I’m letting you do what you want!” Rose lashed back once the path was clear. She dashed up to him. With two quick swipes, she forced Medusa to let go of him. “You’ve got friends, so use them!”

Sorey agreed with her. Each one of them took a stand behind Dezel, much to his chagrin. He didn’t want them to be turned to stone. It was a fate worse than death to be frozen in place, still conscious yet unable to move or even breathe.

“Oh my,” a familiar voice hummed. “I came just in time, Cardinal Forton. Looks like you let the malevolence get to you, but no matter. I shall make sure that pesky Shepherd doesn’t touch you!” With sword in hand, Targana joined the fray.

Sorey took a step back. “Targana? But why? What about Sergei?” he questioned. The blond-haired knight’s smug look didn’t change.

“Sorey and Mikleo, keep Targana busy,” Rose told the Shepherd. “Everyone else, focus on Forton!”

Alisha and Lailah Armatized together while Mikleo covered Sorey’s left side. Zaveid offered his support to Rose, and Edna would attack from behind everyone with flying stones. Dezel rejected their help again, but Rose ignored him.

“Aw, are you so scared that your precious girl will be a nice piece of decorum for the shrinechurch?” Medusa taunted.

“As long as we finish her off fast, we’ll be okay,” Rose reassured him.

Targana rushed Sorey and Mikleo, parrying and locking the Shepherd with his sword in one hand and protecting against the water seraph’s attacks with a shielded sleeve on the other. Mikleo leapt back, casting Twin Flow over and over to break through. Sorey spun out of the lock before trying to use the Hidden Arte Sonic Thrust to pierce his armor. Even though the knight was fighting against two skilled men around the same age as him, there was not a moment where he was vulnerable.

Zaveid and Dezel chained up Medusa with their pendulums to give Rose time to deal damage. Medusa easily broke out of their hold. She screeched at the assassin, and she came crashing down with a dizzying headache.

“Rose!” Dezel gasped.

Edna laid traps around for Targana and Medusa to trigger before tending to Rose with her own healing spells. It was then that Targana found an opening to surprise attack the earth seraph. He pushed Sorey out of the way, his sword ready to pierce her heart. Mikleo stopped him with his Freeze Lancer, and he saved her in the nick of time. Alisha took this moment to slice at Targana, but again he dodged the attack.

“He’s a lot faster than he looks,” Mikleo murmured.

“Not surprising,” Sorey panted. “He’s part of the elite. To think that Sergei had a spy like this working against him.”

“Lailah, we’ve got to catch him with our Mystic Arte,” Alisha said aloud.

_“Of course,”_ Lailah agreed.

Medusa swatted Zaveid away and grabbed Dezel by his throat when he was still distracted by Rose’s ailment. She loomed over her, waiting for her periwinkle eyes to open so she could turn her to stone right in front of him. The assassin knew this; she had heard stories about her kind of creatures in fairytales. She jumped up with her eyes closed.

“I may look like an idiot, but I’m pretty smart,” Rose smiled.

“Insolent brat,” Medusa growled. “You’ll still have to open them to see where I am.”

“Rock Lance!” Edna called out.

Medusa bellowed in pain as a spike of stone punched through her abdomen. She released Dezel, and he threw his pendulum around her hands. “Zaveid!” he called out. His fellow wind seraph wrapped his pendulums around her as well, constricting her arms to her torso.

Targana averted his gaze from Sorey and Alisha to Medusa. He scrambled to free her, which left him wide open for Alisha and Lailah’s Mystic Arte Flamberge. Together with her fire seraph, Alisha swung her Sacred Blade around like a fire tornado that scorched everything around her. The knight was badly burned, and he could no longer move due to exhaustion. Sorey and Mikleo angled their sword and staff respectively at his throat.

“Don’t move!” Sorey threatened. Targana called his bluff, and he pushed himself away from the two of them with whatever strength he had left.

But he was too late.

Dezel unleashed his Mystic Arte Brutality Drive. The barrage of whips he hit Medusa with wasn’t anything flashy, yet there was something in the attack that wasn’t normal. Rose watched him as he took out his frustration and anger on her as a purveyor of the abuse that so many IPDs had felt. Zaveid let go of Medusa when she was only barely alive to stop him from killing her.

“Let me go! Damn you, let me go!” Dezel thundered.

“If you kill her, the malevolence in her is gonna kill every seraph in this place,” Zaveid grunted.

“I don’t care, she must be brought to justice! Rose, finish her off!”

“Rose, you don’t have to kill her.”

“It’s your job to kill the vermin in this world!”

Sorey, Alisha, Targana, Mikleo, and Edna all watched as Dezel and Zaveid pulled at Rose’s heart. But she had come to a decision long before this fight. She was the boss of the Scattered Bones, and her judgment was their judgment. The Cardinal Forton, the previous yet true form of the sullied Medusa, was a criminal. She had brought blighting rain that pushed the citizens of Pendrago to starvation. She had aided in the torture and experimentation of countless IPDs. She had threatened to use IPDs to destroy Hyland. She was beyond salvation. She drew her hidden dagger laced with the most potent of poisons in her arsenal.

“Rose, wait!” Sorey uttered. “We can purify her. We can help her begin on the path of redemption!” He looked pleadingly at Alisha and Lailah who had since de-Armatized. Lailah used her Silver Flame on Medusa, but it had no effect on her. “She can’t be purified?”

“Cardinal Forton!” Targana screamed.

“If you kill me, the people will fall into desperation,” Medusa wheezed. She rose out of sheer willpower, her actual ability to fight gone. “I am these people’s savior. Only I can promise them a life free of pain and suffering. If I have to trample on a few thousand IPD seraphim, then so be it. I will make life comfortable and prosperous for Pendrago at any cost.”

Targana limped to her side.

“I will use Lakra as I see fit. Together with her and the cursed seraph standing before you, the Goddess’s mercy will rain just as the blighting rains did. Salvation! Everyone shall be saved!”

“No!” Dezel screamed over her. “I refuse!”

Rose couldn’t listen to her anymore. She lifted her dagger to stab her heart and end her delirious suffering, but another dagger flew past her cheek—grazing it—and into Medusa’s head. Her body burned in fire that was hotter than Lailah’s. Blue flames. Medusa’s hellion body reverted to the singed corpse of Cardinal Forton. The malevolence swirled then dissipated.

Just like that, the domain shifted yet again. All of the seraphim became rigid suddenly.

“Mikleo? Edna?” Sorey faltered. They didn’t respond. They were the very statues that stood behind them.

Amidst the confusion, Targana slipped away. Then the abnormal domain vanished, and the seraphim acted as if nothing had happened.

“What just happened?” Alisha asked her fellow humans.

Sorey felt uneasy. It was such an unnatural domain, its remnants lingering for a few seconds before they disappeared. Dezel sensed them.

“That domain… _she’s here_ ,” he murmured to himself.

“We should probably report back to Sergei,” Edna suggested. “He’s not going to be too happy about any of this.”

The seraphim returned to their owners except for Dezel. Rose approached him after hinting to Sorey and Alisha that she wanted privacy. As they walked towards the door leading out the chancel, she stepped closer to him. “Are you okay now?” she asked out of concern. She had never seen him act so ferociously, and perhaps it was simply anger. It wasn’t the only thing she saw, however; there was fear there, too. Dezel wasn’t listening to her. He seemed to be focusing on the domain that had left an aftertaste to him like bitter alcohol. “Dezel?”

“I can feel her on the wind,” he said. “I can’t pinpoint her location, but she’s here.”

Rose ventured to hold his hand. He didn’t notice.

\-------------------------------------

“We’ve got a little good news and a lot of bad news,” Zaveid told Sergei at the shrinechurch’s entrance. “Which do you want first?”

Sorey let out a sigh. It wasn’t the best way to start a report of the mission. He did wait for Sergei’s response, and after he told him that Forton was dead and allowed the captain some happiness, he hesitantly told him the rest. Boris wasn’t coming back. Someone else had killed Forton—which would in turn either help Sergei’s case or worsen it should anyone file charges of treason against him.

“We have reason to believe you had a defector,” Alisha finished. “That knight named Targana. He escaped shortly after Forton was killed. He’s working with someone or something called Lakra. Do you know who that could be?”

Sergei shook his head. If it had something to do with the IPD experiments, then he wasn’t allowed to know. “We’ll continue to gather information on the matter,” he vowed. “As for now, we have to discuss this with the emperor. Thank you, Shepherd Sorey, and your friends for what you’ve done. At the very least, you’ve saved this city from famine.”

Sorey wasn’t happy with the result, though. Even though Forton was prepared to sacrifice everything to bring salvation to Pendrago, he still believed that she could have redeemed herself. He didn’t want to believe that she couldn’t be purified, and the fact that she was killed by someone else right in front of them proved how powerless he and his friends were—or, at the very least, that they were still hesitantor divided in making their decisions. Sergei said his goodbye with his squadron at his heels.

Rose stretched in the warmth of the late morning sun. “Hi, Sun! We missed you!” she happily said. “Well, that part is taken care of, so let’s go grab some grub.”

Alisha was surprised. “You’re awfully cheery for someone who was just sulking,” she astonishedly said.

“Well…I didn’t want to bring down the mood just yet. And it looks like Sorey’s upset enough as it is. Let’s wait for a rebound—with some Drago Stew—and then we can talk.”

“Is Dezel okay?”

“He won’t say anything, but…that’s a private matter between me and him.” She gave Alisha playful wink. “Okay, Grumpy Shepherd, let’s go get food and be happy for a little bit.”

Mikleo came out and pushed Sorey along towards the inn while Zaveid tried to poke his cheeks into a smile. Edna followed behind lazily. Lailah and Alisha walked together while Rose tagged along since Dezel, who wasn’t interested in being with the group.

\-------------------------------------

In the dungeons where Lakra was kept, Targana and Lunarre knelt to Symonne. The fallen seraph had a wicked smile. “Cardinal Forton is gone,” Targana said in disbelief. “What are we going to do without her? The experiments, Frelia, everything that we’ve worked on…”

“All is not lost,” Symonne chirped. “‘The world is a stage, its men and women merely players’—to misappropriate the words of a famous man. You have the Hymn Crystal needed to give Lakra permission to convert Infel Phira into a cannon. And capturing that cursed wind seraph will be simple. You can leave that to me; however, Lunarre, I will need your assistance again. Thank you for making sure that woman’s mouth remained shut.”

The fox-faced hellion looked up at her. He knew Rose and Dezel from his time in the Scattered Bones. He hated them for all the rules they placed on their contracts. Symonne couldn’t give him any details yet. She wanted to relish in this new beginning as she took center stage for the havoc she wanted to wreak upon Rolance. By causing more and more chaos, the malevolence would get stronger, and her master Heldalf would along with it. She wished that Mir could have been part, and she cursed Shurelia for sealing her away within herself. She was a sacrifice that had to be made.

“Now, all we have to do is wait for the opportune time,” she sang.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aside from the battle in this chapter, there are a little bit of redundancy here and there in the chapter, but re-writing it at this point would have lost the flavor a bit. But either way, with this chapter, I've introduced one of the conflicts in Ar Tonelico 2 (which happens to be one of the most dramatic parts of the trilogy matched by AT3's ending), but what it all means...you'll just have to wait. PLEASE comment what you think about this chapter!

**Author's Note:**

> The rating will fluctuate until I'm happy with where I'm going.


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